JAN  27  1911 


Mabie,    Henry  Clay,    1847- 
1918. 

The    t.^sT^   v7orth  while;    or 


The  Task  Worth  While 

OR 

THE  DIVINE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MISSIONS 


Seminars  Xectuces  /^^^^^  !.^'^'^^f, 

(1909-I9IOJ 

>    JAN  27  1911 

By 
Henry  Clay  Mabie,  D.  D. 

Formerly  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American 
Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society 

Author  of 

"In  Brightest  Asia,"  "Method  in  Soul-Winning," 

"The  Meaning  and  Message  of  the  Cross," 

"  How  Does  thb  Death  of  Christ  Save  Us?" 

"The  Divine  Right  of  Missions,"  etc. 


The  Griffith  &  Rowland  Press 

Philadelphia 
Boston  Chicago         St.  Louis 


Copyright  1910  by 
A.  J.  ROWLAND,  Secretary 

Published  November,  1910 


PREFACE 

The  lectures  which  follow,  except  the  last  one, 
were  given  in  full  or  in  part  by  special  invitation 
of  the  Theological  Faculty's  Union,  in  1909-1910, 
before  the  following  named  institutions:  Roch- 
ester Theological  Seminary;  University  of  Chi- 
cago Divinity  School;  Colgate  Seminary,  Hamil- 
ton, N.  Y. ;  MacMaster  Seminary,  Toronto,  Cana- 
da ;  Kansas  City  Seminary,  Kan. ;  Southwestern 
Seminary,  Waco,  Tex. ;  Southern  Baptist  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Louisville,  Ky. ;  Crozer  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Upland,  Pa. ;  and  New^ton 
Theological  Institution,  Newton,  Mass.  Lectures 
III  and  VII  were  repeated  before  the  Reformed 
Church  Seminary,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

The  title  and  topics  as  named  at  the  several 
institutions  varied  somewhat  in  form,  although 
substantially  the  same  material  was  used.  For 
purposes  of  publication,  however,  it  is  thought 
the  general  title  chosen  is  on  the  whole  the 
fittest. 

The  origin  of  the  lectures  themselves  is  com- 


VI  PREFACE 

posite.  They  are  based  on  long  and  careful  first- 
hand study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures — the  Divine 
Oracles  themselves — rather  than  the  thoughts  of 
others  about  them.  This  study,  moreover,  was 
engendered  and  stimulated  by  a  fresh  insight  into 
the  divine  word,  begotten  of  a  deep  religious 
crisis  in  the  author's  own  spiritual  life  resulting 
from  a  breakdown  in  health — a  crisis  which  only 
those  who  have  had  similar  experiences  could  be 
expected  fully  to  appreciate. 

This  was  followed,  not  long  after,  by  a  call  to 
the  secretaryship  of  the  American  Baptist  For- 
eign Mission  Society,  and  a  visit  to  the  mission 
fields  of  Asia.  All  this  brought  with  it  a  deeper 
conception  of  the  missionary  enterprise  as  some- 
thing organic  to  Christianity,  of  the  essential 
unity  of  all  mankind  before  God,  and  of  the  depth 
of  the  divine  love  for  them,  of  all  heathendom 
as  well  as  Christendom,  as  existing  under  the 
aegis  of  a  redemptive  economy,  which  however 
awaits  the  co-operation  of  the  church  for  its 
realization. 

First-hand  contact  with  veteran  missionaries 
and  not  a  few  sincere  adherents  of  the  ethnic 
faiths,  led  to  a  more  reflective  examination  of 
certain  Scriptures,  and  to  a  larger  appreciation 


PREFACE  Vll 

of  the  subjective  element  in  all  religion.  More- 
over, there  resulted  a  deeper  view  of  the  whole 
movement  to  Christianize  the  world  in  a  scrip- 
tural and  worthy  sense.  Its  depth  and  difficulty, 
and  yet  its  vast  promise,  took  on  fuller  meanings. 
This  enterprise  is  no  mere  crusade.  Missions  are 
a  cosmic  undertaking — something  eterno-tem- 
poral — in  which  ''  times  and  seasons,"  as  men 
reckon  them,  are  beside  the  mark  as  compared 
with  divine  estimates.  The  timeless  God  and  the 
intrinsic  power  of  his  truth  are  more  to  be  reck- 
oned on.  In  terms  of  time,  the  prelude  to  a  time- 
less consummation  may  be  long  and  yet  logically 
short,  however  perplexing  to  us. 

Starting  out  from  the  threefold  point  of  view 
indicated — a  point  of  view  matured  on  the 
world's  great  mission  fields — the  author  returned 
home  and  began  an  active  advocacy  of  the  cause 
for  a  score  of  years  before  the  home  churches, 
and  in  numerous  prayer  conferences,  from  IMaine 
to  California.  The  principles  thus  tested  in  prac- 
tical ways,  resulted  with  the  divine  blessing  in 
quickened  motive  and  response  which  it  is  hoped 
has  contributed  some  part  to  the  enlarged  mis- 
sionary enthusiasm  of  the  present  time. 

These  lectures  are  the  epitome  of  the  presenta- 


Vlll  PREFACE 

tions  SO  widely  made  before  the  churches.  The 
discussion  is  intended  to  cover  "  things  new  and 
old,"  in  the  task  worth  while  for  God  and  man  in 
the  ongoing  of  the  kingdom,  as  Isaiah  presents  it 
(49  :  6),  but  with  fundamental  reference  to  the 
timeless  and  cosmic  factors  which  operate.  By 
''  cosmic,"  I  mean  the  whole  issue  of  two  worlds 
— the  issue  embraced  in  the  union  of  the  eternal 
and  the  temporal,  the  divine  and  the  human. 
Missions  are  but  the  extension  in  various  forms  of 
elemental  Christianity,  yet  they  have  to  deal  with 
world-wide  conditions  in  all  forms  of  life,  and 
in  all  times. 

As  a  rule,  missions  are  presented  in  their  tem- 
poral and  phenomenal  aspects,  often  narrowly, 
and  in  outworn  phraseology.  In  such  case,  views 
respecting  God  and  the  general  moral  order,  re- 
main ill  defined,  or  only  half  true,  while  uncer- 
tainty of  aim  in  practical  effort  follows.  For 
these  reasons,  among  others,  missions  demand  a 
restatement  in  modern  terms,  indeed,  yet  in  these 
terms  as  controlled  by  certain  eternal  and  thor- 
oughly evangelical  factors. 

In  these  lectures  the  author  had  to  commend 
the  cause  to  students — the  prospective  new  leaders 
and  missionaries  of  the  churches,  and  of  course 


PREFACE  IX 

with  reference  to  modern  conditions.  Both  clear- 
ness and  practical  wisdom  were  requisite.  The 
theological  ground-work  assumed,  while  having 
regard  to  a  true  modernism,  must  still  be  consist- 
ent with  that  modernism  which  is  theologically 
sound. 

We  must  settle  a  few  first  things  as  funda- 
mental in  the  missionary  God,  and  true  to  the 
moral  order  under  which  he  has  placed  us,  before 
we  can  go  on  and  rightly  think  of  missions,  or 
wisely  conduct  them.  To  do  otherwise  is  most 
superficial.  Every  kind  of  talk  on  the  subject,  in 
any  case,  presupposes  one  kind  of  theology  or 
another.  We  need  thoroughly  to  clarify  and 
ethicise  our  thought  if  we  are  to  engender  or 
deepen  missionary  motive.  If,  therefore,  in  the 
reading  of  these  chapters,  any  should  feel  that 
they  are  disproportionately  apologetic,  it  may  be 
well  for  such  to  consider  that  the  thought  of  our 
time  requires  a  more  discriminating  rationale  of 
missions,  as  of  all  other  things,  than  has  pre- 
viously prevailed. 

While  the  author's  mind  in  the  discussion  has 
been  dominated  doctrinally  by  biblical  princi- 
ples evangelically  conceived,  yet  these  principles 
in  part  have  been  newly  interpreted,  and  in  the 


X  PREFACE 

numerous  concrete  illustrations  employed,  he 
speaks  as  a  first-hand  observer  of  the  actual  mis- 
sion work  of  our  time,  which  attests  as  well  as 
illustrates  the  principles. 

That  those  who  have  the  training  of  our  future 
ministers  and  missionaries,  in  representative  theo- 
logical seminaries  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  united  to  secure  a  hearing  of  these  mes- 
sages, for  their  students,  was  gratifying  to  the 
author.  His  thanks  also  are  cordially  due  to  an 
elect  number  of  special  friends  of  missions  and 
of  the  schools,  who  by  their  generosity  made  this 
service  possible. 

The  lectures  are  published  by  request  of  the 
students  and  others  who  heard  them.  May  the 
divine  blessing  rest  upon  them  as  they  go  forth 
in  this  form  to  the  world. 

H.  C.  M. 

Boston,  September,  19:0. 


CONTENTS 


LECTURE   I 

Missions  Grounded  in  a  Timeless  Redemption i 

Missions,  like  theology,  dependent  on  starting- 
point.  Incidental  to  a  self-manifestation  of  God. 
The  Christ  of  Christianity  is  superhistorical  and 
cosmic.  The  timeless  sacrificial  principle  in  God. 
A  determinative  Scripture  passage.  Rev.  13  :  8.  The 
atonement  a  cosmic  matter.  While  temporal  fac- 
tors enter,  yet  the  dateless  govern.  The  universe 
redempto-centric.  The  Andover  position.  The 
Christian  propitiation  a  self-propitiation  in  God. 
The  Father  and  the  Son  absolutely  en  rapport. 
Redemption  more  than  restoration.  All  men  exist 
under  its  aegis.  Six  timeless  factors  noted:  (i) 
Revelation  in  its  idea;  (2)  the  providential  moral 
order;  (3)  the  predetermined  bounds  of  human 
habitation;  (4)  the  appointed  "times  and  seasons." 
The  composite  idea  in  the  "  parousia "  of  Christ. 
The  genius  of  the  kingdom.  Christ  and  the  inspired 
writers  not  in  error  respecting  eschatology;  (5) 
the  age-long  conflict  between  Christ  and  Satan. 
Its  bearing  on  the  Ethnic  Systems;  (6)  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Missions,  the  actualizing  of  the 
potential. 

LECTURE  II 

The  Providential  Factors  in  Missions 25 

xi 


XU  CONTENTS 

Providence  operates  both  in  development  and  by 
cataclysm.  The  element  of  surprise  in  both.  A 
redemptive  system  involves  this.  Ours  not  a 
naturalistic  vi^orld.  Why  our  world  a  cosmos 
rather  than  a  chaos.  Providence  a  fruit  and  a 
phase  of  grace.  Provable  not  abstractly,  but  by 
life.  Nothing  violative  in  it.  A  basis  for  prayer. 
The  universe  wired  for  it.  Personality  makes  all 
possible.  Testimony  of  Baroness  Bunsen.  Where- 
in providence  is  grounded.  Browning.  Works  in 
a  corporate  as  well  as  individual  way.  Statistics 
on  missions  misleading.  Periods  of  long  waiting. 
The  short  vision  of  the  Reformers  and  reasons 
for  it.  The  fathers  unjustly  censured.  Striking 
providences  within  a  century.  Apparently  unpro- 
pitious  events  helpful,  e.  g.,:  (i)  Triumph  of  the 
Moslem  power;  (2)  persecutors  of  the  pre-Refor- 
mation  times;  (3)  shafts  of  wit  and  ridicule; 
(4)  abuses  of  the  East  India  Company.  Robert 
Give.  Sepoy  Rebellion;  (5)  Boxer  uprising  in 
China. 

LECTURE  III 

The  Continuity  of  the  Missionary  Passion 51 

The  origin  and  nature  of  this  passion.  As  yet 
far  from  general  in  the  church.  Two  current 
sayings:  i.  "The  church  only  playing  at  mis- 
sions"; 2.  "The  day  of  the  romance  of  missions 
is  past."  Yet  notable  exceptions.  The  witnessing 
Spirit  of  God.  Works  in  all  true  missionaries  from 
Paul  to  Paton.  The  natural  history  of  this  pas- 
sion:  (i)  Principle  of  self-effacement  at  its  root; 
not  the  Buddhistic  type.  (2)  New  vision  of  the 
Lord  of  glory.  (3)  Foreview  of  the  Christlike- 
ness  in  man  ;  landing  of  a  missionary  in  India ;  the 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

sliock  overcome.  (4)  Confidence  in  the  victorious 
might  of  Christ;  David  Hill  and  Pastor  Hsi ; 
numerous  illustrations.  Men  thus  held  to  their 
task.     "The  Lord  himself  ^vas  there." 


LECTURE  IV 

The  Language  Element  in  the  Cosmic  Plan 71 

Why  so  important.  Language  as  a  psychological 
phenomenon.  Thompson's  "  Brain  and  Person- 
ality," vs.  materialism.  The  varied  psychology  in 
diversity  of  tongues.  Biblical  light  on  the  subject. 
The  import  of  the  naming  of  the  animal  creation 
in  Eden.  The  significance  of  Babel.  The  masters 
of  antiquity  on  three  points.  The  German  Mein- 
hof  on  the  Bantu  languages.  Practically  applied. 
Testifies  to  race  degeneration.  Christ  himself  as 
"  The  Word."  Significance  of  Pentecost.  Grace 
for  language  work  in  two  respects:  (i)  Reduction 
to  writing;  (2)  translation.  Work  of  Ulfilas, 
Cyril,  and  Methodius ;  effect  upon  all  Europe. 
Carey,  Marshman,  Judson,  Morrison,  Hepburn. 
The  missionaries  and  the  motive.  The  typical 
passion  for  it.    Willis  Hotchkiss. 

LECTURE  V 

Reckoning  with  the  Ethnic  Systems 95 

Varying  spheres  of  missionary  operation.  Ethnic 
faiths  as  differentiated  from  animistic  systems. 
Sources  of  religion  as  a  whole.  Rare  discrimina- 
tion essential  to  comparative  religion.  Subject  one 
of  vast  difficulty.  Christianity  not  a  competitive 
system.  Cautions  of  Prof.  Max  Mitller,  Ma- 
caulay,    Meredith    Townsend    against    over-valua- 


XIV  CONTENTS 

tions.    A  visit  to  Benares.    Qualifications  required. 
Skill  for  points  of  contact. 


LECTURE  VI 

The  Finality  of  Christianity  in  Religion 121 

Christianity  unique  as  self-authenticating.  Can- 
not be  accounted  for  by  evolution.  Christ  as  cos- 
mic, superhistorical,  and  contrastive.  Comparative 
religion  as  an  apologetic.  More  a  philosophy  than 
a  science.  Christ  as  final  and  absolute.  Not  an 
eternal  becoming.  The  philosophy  criticized  ruin- 
ous to  missions.  Christianity  superhistoric ;  Pro- 
fessor Bovine  quoted.  Christianity  supremely 
unique  or  nothing.  Christ  and  Jesus  inseparable  in 
thought.  Christ  demanded  to  account  for  Jesus. 
Christianity  as  experienced  tested  by  (i)  its  per- 
sonal Head;  (2)  its  unique  message;  (3)  its 
dynamic  in  the  truth-lover.  Pascal's  classical  pas- 
sage respecting  light  and  obscurity  in  Christianity. 
The  proof  of  Christianity  progressive.  More  than 
logic  involved. 

LECTURE  VII 

The  Resurrection  Errand  of  the  Church 141 

Time  of  promulgation  of  the  Great  Commis- 
sion. Subsequent  to  the  resurrection.  Hence  fit- 
ness of  title.  The  resurrection  greeting,  ''All 
hail";  the  shout  of  the  victor.  Wanamaker's  pic- 
ture, ''  The  Conquerors."  But  Christ  the  real  Con- 
queror. Announced:  (i)  the  new  message;  (2) 
the  new  courage;  (3)  the  new  errand.  Importance 
of  its  realization.  Story  of  Mrs.  Wheeler,  of  Har- 
poot.    Reasons  for  late  promulgation  of  the  Com- 


CONTENTS  XV 

mission:  (i)  Concerned  his  own  person;  (2)  Con- 
cerned the  equipment  of  his  church;  (3)  Con- 
cerned power  over  the  heathen.  Christ  as  risen, 
in  preaching  the  resurrection  of  the  crucified, 
really  the  gospel  message.  Testimony  of  Henry 
Richards.  The  power  of  Livingstone,  Schwartz, 
John  Williams,  Paton,  and  others.  Its  moral 
power  at  Pentecost.  In  Caesar's  palace.  The 
martyr-message  of   Pitkin   from   China. 


LECTURE  VIII 

The  Achievements  of  Modern  Missions 165 

No  disparagement  of  earlier  mission  work.  But 
term  "  modern  missions "  installed  among  us. 
State  of  the  world  in  1800.  Periods  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  viewed  by  quarters.  I.  Carey's 
initiative.  Three  great  Bible  Societies.  The  Hay- 
stack Prayer-meeting.  Chaplains  of  the  East  India 
Company — Buchanan,  Martyn,  and  others.  Great 
Christian  civilians.  Charles  Simeon,  of  Cam- 
bridge, England.  Outstanding  missionary  charac- 
ters. From  Schwartz  to  Mofifat.  II.  Native  work- 
ers and  schools.  Extended  work  in  Polynesia.  The 
Scotch  colleges  in  India.  Era  of  wide  organiza- 
tion in  Germany  and  America.  Marked  advance 
in  Africa.  III.  Chinese  ports  opened,  and  twelve 
societies  enter.  Wide  movements  in  India.  Fos- 
tered by  the  Lawrences.  Quelling  of  the  Sepoy 
uprising.  Japan  opened  by  Perry.  Revolution. 
Great  personalities  in  China  and  Japan.  Martyr- 
doms in  South  Seas.  The  rise  of  Stanley.  Great 
ingatherings  in  Burma  and  India.  IV.  The  Moody 
campaigns  in  Britain.  Rise  of  Mildmay  and  Kes- 
wick   Conferences.      The    China    Inland    Mission. 


XVI  CONTENTS 

"  The  Cambridge  seven."  The  Student  Volunteer 
movement.  Missionary  import  of  our  war  with 
Spain.  Vast  migrations  to  America.  Medical  mis- 
sions. Woman's  and  young  people's  work.  The 
Layman's  movement.  Indirect  achievements:  Vast 
spread  of  educational  work  and  free  institutions; 
elevation  of  womanhood ;  and  rebuilding  of  the 
nations   on   a  world   scale. 


LECTURE  IX 

Missions  as  affected  by  Modern  Thought 191 

Modern  missions  began  with  a  doctrine.  An- 
drew Fuller  and  Carey,  complements  of  each  other. 
Haeckel  and  Wellhausen  are  sowing  a  different  seed. 
Another  century  will  make  clear  its  fruits.  Yet 
all  in  a  sense  modernists.  Some  hasty  committals. 
A  wild  modernism.  "  Things  new  and  old." 
"  The  world  in  their  heart."  Why  the  poets  so 
great.  Truth  deeper  than  a  shibboleth.  Not  con- 
trolled by  a  calendar.  Danger  in  some  treatments 
of  comparative  religion.  Its  dogmatic  method. 
Legitimate,  however,  for  apologetic  purposes.  Chris- 
tianity more  than  a  philosophy.  Heraclitism  over 
again.  Points  at  which  modern  thought  has 
brought  values  to  missions:  (i)  In  enlarged  em- 
phasis on  the  inductive  principle.  (2)  In  its  truer 
view  of  God.  (3)  In  its  distinction  between  pro- 
pitiation and  placation.  (4)  In  its  view  of  the 
Holy  Spirit's  work  as  universal.  (5)  In  its  con- 
ception of  faith  as  a  moral  attitude.  (6)  In  its 
view  of  the  status  of  the  heathen  as  existing  under 
the  aegis  of  a  redemptive  system.  (7)  In  its  prac- 
tical work  of  missions  as  not  a  frontal  attack,  but 
the  seeking  of  a  postern  gate.     (8)  In  its  discern- 


CONTENTS  XVll 

ment  of  the  providential  use  of  tilings  "  secular  " 
for  the  cosmic  purposes  of  grace. 


LECTURE  X 

The  TwexVtieth  Century  Fulness  of  Times 217 

A  reverent  use  of  the  term.  Present  world  con- 
ditions. The  cosmic  unity  unprecedented.  Both 
hemispheres  embraced.  A  missionary  to  the  East 
not  buried  alive.  Their  growth  to  statesmen  in 
twenty  years.  Testimony  of  a  traveled  layman. 
Station  missionaries  the  fundamental  agency. 
America's  strategic  position.  An  object-lesson  to 
the  world.  The  freest  people  for  mission  work. 
Increasing  dignity  of  the  democratic  idea.  In- 
fluence of  two  great  colleges  in  the  Levant. 
Formalism  no  barrier.  Effect  on  China  of  the 
returned  indemnity.  Influence  of  recent  presi- 
dents and  diplomatists.  More  than  a  Monroe  doc- 
trine. Providences  culminating  and  cumulative. 
Commerce  in  Eastern  ports.  The  new  nation  in 
South  Africa.  The  Isthmian  Canal.  Christen- 
dom and  pagandom  becoming  interfused.  Will 
the  church  be  faithful? 


LECTURE  XI 

An    Embassy   in    a    Chain;   or,   the   Transfigured 
Sacrifice  243 

The  fundam.ental  qualification  for  mission  serv- 
ice. In  our  Lord's  own  case.  The  essential  con- 
cept of  a  missionary.  Paul's  prisonership  to 
Christ.  This  not  morbidness.  The  correlative 
divine  freedom.     Initiation  into  it  requisite.     Not 


XVlll  CONTENTS 

a  matter  of  locality,  but  of  spirit.  Farewell  serv- 
ice on  a  Boston  dock.  More  than  heroics.  Wilmot 
Brooke.  A  real  home  missionary.  Effect  on  Stan- 
ley of  discovery  of  Livingstone.  Parallels  in 
many  missionaries.  The  deeper  grounds  for  mis- 
sionary support.  Not  mere  pity  wanted.  Basis  of 
George  Miiller's  appeals.  Rebuke  of  a  grudging 
giver.  Christian  sacrifice  not  morbid.  The  mis- 
sionary's solution  of  the  problem.  Doctor  Gren- 
fel's  view.  The  paradox  involved.  Two  patterns 
of  life :  Abram  vs.  the  Babel-builders.  The  mis- 
sionary task  creates  unique  personality. 


LECTURE  XII 

The  Distinctive  Functions  of  Missions — Home  and 
Foreign    267 

Missions  one  in  the  mind  of  Christ.  In  practice, 
however,  sometimes  schismatic.  Terms  confused. 
Original  meaning  modified.  Weaknesses  of  human 
nature  enter.  Results  mischievous.  Missions  as 
contemplated  in  these  lectures.  The  essential  con- 
cept. Not  in  the  interests  of  societies  as  such. 
Missions,  while  one,  have  different  functions. 
Legitimate  to  note  them.  Injurious  to  ignore  them. 
Functions  of  home  missions.  Evangelization. 
Edification.  Church  extension.  Denominational 
propagandism.  Work  for  immigrants.  In  new 
territories  and  possessions.  Among  aboriginal  In- 
dians. Cultivation  of  the  patriotic  idea.  Functions 
of  foreign  missions.  Necessity  of  expatriation. 
Subordination  of  the  family  tie.  Acquisition  of 
strange  languages.  Learning  of  difficult  ethnic  re- 
ligions. Mastering  of  new  psychologies  of  Eastern 
minds.     Facing   of   hostile    climates.     Uncommon 


CONTENTS  XIX 

expenses  for  travel,  health,  education  of  chil- 
dren, etc.  Such  work  distinctive,  and  on  unique 
plane.  Special  initiative  for  it  warranted.  The 
place  of  the  pastor  in  developing  all  forms.  Large 
use  of  organized  agencies  and  societies.  The 
appeal  of  the  concrete  and  specific. 


LECTURE  XIII 

For  a  Witness  and  a  Consummation 293 

The  climacteric  utterance  of  the  ascending  Christ. 
His  missionary  policy.  Related  to  four  things: 
(i)  The  cosmic  capital  of  his  empire;  (2)  the 
nature  of  the  work  to  be  undertaken;  (3)  the 
means  to  be  employed ;  (4)  the  form  of  the  triumph. 
Capital  often  falsely  located.  Thus  the  kingdom 
off  its  center.  Jewish,  Greek,  Roman,  Anglican, 
and  American  thought  about  it.  The  capital  in  the 
heavens.  Need  of  the  Copernican  concept.  Rela- 
tion of  satellite  to  sister  satellite.  To  make  men 
Israelites.  The  race-statesmanship  of  Jesus.  Christ 
"the  Man  of  Destiny."  Progress  made.  The  im- 
port of  gospel  witnessing.  The  correlative  con- 
summation idea.  A  deep  paradox.  The  eagle  not 
the  shell.  "  Success "  a  misleading  word.  Bible 
parallels.  The  fall  of  Manila.  The  cry  of  Due 
d'Aumale  at  Bazaine's  trial.  But  the  kingdom! 
the  kingdom !     Do  we  understand  its  genius  ? 


LECTURE  XIV 

The  Eternal  ''Now"  of  Missionary  Obligation 319 

The   supreme  crisis   of   Augustine.     All   turned 
on  the   "  nov.'ness "  of  his  decision.     Relation   of 


XX  CONTENTS 

Isa.  49  :  8  to  2  Cor.  6  :  i,  2.  Pretexts  for  pro- 
crastination. Satan's  master  temptation.  The  point 
in  true  repentance.  Our  epoch  God's  jubilee,  or 
missionary  age.  Also  Christ's  "  acceptable  year." 
Promptness  of  apostolic  endeavors.  The  con- 
trast since.  Rousing  modern  cries.  The  im- 
mediateness  principle.  The  logical  now.  Faith  has 
no  earthly  "  to-morrows."  All  moral  delays  fic- 
titious. Human  co-operation  essential.  Undue 
shortening  or  prolongation  of  time,  twin-errors. 
Tarrying  for  power  dispensational  only.  Life  not 
to  be  planless.  Celestial  estimates  should  rule. 
The  church  of  the  "  diaspora."  The  potentialities 
awaiting  immediate  actualization.  Sir  John 
Tenniel's  cartoon.  "  Now ! "  a  really  scriptural 
watchword. 


LECTURE  I 


MISSIONS  GROUNDED  IN  A  TIMELESS 
REDEMPTION 


LECTURE  I 

SOME  there  are  who  as  they  start  in  theology 
with  the  facts  and  concomitants  of  the  hu- 
man fall,  also  logically  level  down  their  basis 
for  the  practical  outworking  of  missions  to  an 
economic  or  time-process. 

As  for  myself,  I  cannot  ground  a  satisfactory 
philosophy  of  missions  on  anything  short  of  that 
dateless  prehistorical  purpose  which,  to  use  Paul's 
phraseology,  "  for  ages  hath  been  hid  in  God, 
who  created  all  things,  to  the  intent  that  now  unto 
the  principalities  and  the  powers  in  heavenly 
places  might  be  made  known  through  the  church 
the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  according  to  the 
eternal  purpose  which  he  purposed  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord  "  (Eph.  3  :  9-1 1).  Missions  are 
organic  to  Christianity. 

Missions  are  not  a  mere  finite  enterprise  de- 
vised by  man,  to  be  humanly  exploited  according 
to  temporal  standards.  They  rather  have  an  in- 
finite, divine  Author ;  nay,  they  grow  out  of  some- 
thing structural  in  him.     They  are  incidental  to 

3 


4  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

a  self-manifestation  of  God  to  his  sentient  uni- 
verse. This  self-manifestation  embraces  in  its 
scope  as  a  proximate  end  the  purpose  to  recreate 
man  into  Christlike  sonship  to  himself.  Yet  this 
Christ,  the  norm  of  the  new  creation,  was  not 
only  the  historic,  but  also  the  super-historical, 
even  the  cosmic  Christ,  whom  Paul  in  Colossians 
calls  "  the  firstborn  of  every  creature,"  who  ''  is 
before  all  things,"  and  "  in  whom  all  things  con- 
sist." 

Moreover,  there  was  in  that  eternal  divine  cos- 
mic ''  Word "  the  timeless  sacrificial  principle 
which  came  into  operation,  in  the  purpose  to 
create  the  world.  For  the  creation  of  a  world 
certain  to  fall  into  sin  was  not  only  a  form  of 
self-limitation  but  also  of  suffering  on  the  part  of 
God — a  suffering  which  came  to  its  historical 
completion  as  well  as  concrete  exhibition  in  the 
finished  atonement  of  Calvary.  This  sacrificial 
principle  in  God  corresponds  to  ''  the  Lamb  fore- 
known— as  slain — from  the  foundation  of  the 
world."  This,  in  the  Scriptures,  is  central  to 
everything,  both  in  theology  and  theodicy.  This 
Lamb,  eternally  slain,  itself  creates  the  mission 
enterprise.  "  By  the  blood  of  the  cross,"  says 
Paul,  "  all  things  were  reconciled,  whether  things 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN   REDEMPTION  5 

upon  the  earth,  or  things  in  the  heavens."  Among 
the  things  in  the  heavens  requiring  reconciha- 
tion  was  that  antinomy  in  God's  own  being,  as 
between  his  hohness  and  love,  occasioned  by  the 
coming  into  the  world  of  sin.  The  atonement 
at  bottom  was  a  cosmic  matter,  satisfying  to 
God's  own  self,  antedating  everything  which  has 
occurred  or  can  occur  in  time.  Christian  mis- 
sions, then,  are  truly  grounded  in  the  cross;  not 
the  cross  conceived  as  an  afterthought,  or  even  in 
history  alone,  but  in  that  cross  which  was  set  up 
in  the  Lamb  as  eternally  slain,  albeit  historicized 
and  visualized  on  the  tree  of  Calvary. 

Of  course,  human  agencies  or  temporal  factors 
are  legitimate  and  even  necessary  in  co-opera- 
tion with  God  in  this  work,  and  they  have  special 
pertinence  in  particular  times.  My  first  conten- 
tion, however,  is  that  in  their  essential  nature 
missions  are  timelessly  grounded  in  the  divine 
nature  itself,  and  these  dateless  factors  govern  the 
temporal  ones. 

In  this  view,  therefore,  it  will  be  seen  from 
the  start  that  we  conceive  of  the  universe  like 
its  divine  Creator  as  redempfo-centric  in  nature. 
The  reason  for  this  term  will  presently  appear. 
About  a  generation  ago  it  was  strongly  urged 


6  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

by  the  Andover  Divinity  School  that  all  theology 
needed  to  be  made  **  Christo-centric  "  rather  than 
longer  remain  *'  Theo-centric."  By  this  was 
meant  that  to  conceive  of  Christ  as  the  center  in 
theology  was  essentially  better  than  to  locate  it 
in  God  the  Father.  This  was  intended  as  an  im- 
provement upon  that  severe  idea  of  the  sovereign 
God  which  characterized  the  rigid  Calvinism  of 
the  past.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that  evangelical 
theology  has  sometimes  allowed  itself  to  think 
of  God  the  Father  as  one  kind  of  Deity,  viz.,  the 
judicial  damning  type,  and  Christ  the  Son  as  an 
opposite  kind  of  God,  for  purposes  of  rescuing  us 
or  letting  us  off  from  divine  judgment. 

But  this  conception  entirely  falsifies  the  situa- 
tion. And  there  is  need  of  some  term  to  repre- 
sent more  truly  the  nature  of  the  whole  God-in- 
Christ.  We  have  but  to  remember  that  all  that 
ever  was  in  Christ  was  also  in  the  Father,  and 
that  Christ  is  but  the  manifestation  of  the  Father, 
and  the  false  Andover  antithesis  disappears. 
"  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself " ;  but  the  Father  did  not  abdicate  to 
the  Son.  The  atonement  is  the  outflow  of  God's 
love  and  not  its  procuring  cause,  as  if  God  needed 
to  be  made  willing  to  save.    God  is  as  essentially 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN   REDEMPTION  7 

in  Spirit  and  aim  an  atoning  Being  as  is  Christ  the 
Son.  And  he  is  all  this  in  a  more  balanced  way 
than  the  Andover  thought  implied.  There  is  a 
complete  solidarity  as  between  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  The  antithesis,  or  antinomy  occasioned  by 
sin,  is  not  between  two  beings — not  between  the 
first  and  second  persons  of  the  Trinity — but  it  is 
between  two  relations  or  rapports  in  one  and  the 
same  triune  Being.  It  is  between  the  necessities 
of  God's  righteousness  which  impels  him  to  pun- 
ish sin  when  it  arises,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
moral  necessities  of  his  love,  which  yearns  to 
save  the  sinful  race  on  the  other.  The  scriptur- 
ally  revealed  way  for  preserving  both  these  neces- 
sities is  through  the  voluntary  suffering  of  the 
whole  Deity.  Thus  only  what  otherwise  would 
have  been  a  schism  in  the  divine  nature  itself,  and 
a  scandal  in  the  moral  universe,  was  averted. 
God  could  now  "  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him 
that  believeth  in  Jesus."  It  was  not  the  propitia- 
tion of  one  person  of  the  Trinity  by  the  other. 
The  propitiation  was  a  self-propitiation,  although 
made  historical  and  visual  in  the  work  which  cul- 
minated on  Golgotha.  Thus  grace — a  term  which 
has  largely  lost  its  meaning  in  the  confusion  of 
some  modern  thought — is  the  synthesis  of  God's 


8  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

holiness  and  love,  effected  through  the  measure- 
less passion  of  the  Infinite,  historicized  in  the 
Word  which  became  flesh  and  voluntarily  laid 
down  his  life  for  the  world. 

When,  therefore,  we  say  that  God's  universe  is 
redempto-centric,  we  imply  for  the  whole  essen- 
tial Deity  all  that  the  Andover  school  claimed  for 
its  Christological  idea,  but  we  do  it  in  a  different 
\  way  and  on  a  truer  principle.  We  carry  the  re- 
deeming suffering  back  through  the  Son  into  the 
Father  also.  In  so  doing  we  conserve  all  that  is 
of  value  in  the  Christo-centric  claim,  and  we 
avoid  the  havoc  wrought  to  theology  in  the  impli- 
cation that  God  the  Father  was  no  Redeemer  but 
only  a  severe  and  implacable  judge;  and  that  in 
Christ's  being  there  was  nothing  severe,  and  in 
his  death  nothing  judicial  and  penal,  and  we  avoid 
tritheism.  In  the  Andover  view,  and  especially 
as  construed  by  some  of  its  more  recent  follow- 
ers, no  recognition  whatever  is  made  of  the  judi- 
cial element  in  the  atonement,  a  view  which  ig- 
nores divine  government  altogether,  which  logic- 
ally legitimizes  sin,  and  reduces  God  himself  to  an 
infinite  anarchist.  The  truth  is,  the  Father  as 
well  as  the  Son,  in  spirit,  was  both  Judge  and 
Redeemer,  and  the  one  as  really  as  the  other;  just 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN    REDEMPTION  9 

as  in  the  juvenile  court  the  judicial  authority  also 
becomes  the  saviour  of  the  incipient  criminal. 

While,  indeed,  it  is  true  from  one  standpoint, 
considering  the  estrangement  of  the  sinner  from 
God,  that  the  reconciling  relation  is  mediated  by 
Christ,  who  as  a  divine-human  Daysman  lays  his 
hand  upon  both  God  and  man,  yet  from  another 
point  of  view  the  case  is  self-mediated  by  the 
whole  Deity,  full  justice  being  done  both  to  the 
judicial  and  to  the  clement  sides  of  his  being. 

This  redemption  in  Christ,  moreover,  is  more 
than  a  cure  for  the  sin-malady  brought  on  by  the 
fall.  It  is  all  this  plus  the  new  higher  health  and 
tone  realized  through  the  soul's  new  union  with 
Christ,  the  "  Second  Adam."  And  when  this 
result  shall  have  been  consummated  in  glory, 
the  redeemed  will  be  immune  from  the  peril  of 
another  fall,  because  of  the  strength  of  the  new 
and  higher  spontaneous  righteousness  derived 
from  Christ. 

The  soul  then  will  have  been  tested  and  tough- 
ened by  experience,  and  it  will  have  been  *'  clothed 
upon  "  with  its  "  house  which  is  from  heaven," 
have  its  resurrection  body  with  the  immense  re- 
lease from  tendencies  to  sin  derived  from  the  old 
Adamic  body.     There  is  involved  in  all  this  also 


10  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

a  potential  new  heredity  in  Christ,  our  new  race- 
Head.  Even  now  the  potentiaHty  of  this  thing 
constitutes  in  the  divine  thought,  the  gracious 
evangehcal  aegis  under  which  all  souls  everywhere 
have  their  very  being  and  moral  discipline,  even 
though  millions  of  the  race  are  still  ignorant  of  it, 
or  having  known  it  despise  it.  The  truth  is,  every 
human  descendant  of  Adam  owes  his  very  ex- 
istence in  this  world  to  the  atonement  which  was 
proleptic  in  the  eternally  slain  Lamb.  In  this 
light  it  will  be  seen  that  we  use  the  term  redemp- 
tion in  a  larger,  fuller  sense  than  of  mere  res- 
toration to  the  unfallen  state  of  the  rudimental 
man  of  Eden.    And  the  Scriptures  so  regard  it. 

Viewing  then,  as  we  do,  the  whole  order  of 
things  under  which  we  live  as  redempto-centric 
in  nature,  other  things,  all  timeless,  follow  as 
logically  belonging  to  such  a  scheme  of  the  uni- 
verse, things  which  are  at  the  basis  of  the  idea  of 
missions  presupposed  in  these  lectures. 

I.  Revelation  in  its  very  idea  of  something 
supra-mundane  is  a  declaration  of  something 
originating  outside  the  temporal  order.  As  such, 
it  comes  to  us  as  a  grace  from  the  eternal  God. 
This  grace  has  broken  in  upon  us  from  another 
world.     Moreover,  this  grace  as  a  value  to  be 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN    REDEMPTION         II 

passed  on  to  others,  argues  for  its  eternal  depth. 
It  is  the  knowledge  of  God  as  a  Saviour,  or  new 
Creator,  which  we  are  to  declare  to  our  world. 
This  is  the  outflow  of  a  timeless  purpose. 

2.  As  forming  a  part  of  the  content  of  this 
revelation,  another  timeless  energy  working  for 
missions  is  that  foreordained  moral  order  of  the 
universe  which  we  call  providence. 

Providence  is  possible  only  as  it  is  a  predestined 
order — part  and  parcel  therefore  of  the  redemp- 
tive purpose  of  the  Lamb  eternally  slain.  "  For 
we  know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  God,  to  them  who  are  the  called 
according  to  his  purpose." 

So  all  trial  and  affliction,  however  imposed,  is 
made  to  inure  to  the  welfare  of  the  children  of 
God.  What  God  foreordains  is  not  always  the 
events  themselves,  especially  when  in  themselves 
evil,  but  the  moral  bearing  of  affliction  upon  our 
spiritual  state. 

3.  This  timeless  principle  of  a  foreordained 
providence  has  a  very  signal  and  cosmic  applica- 
tion in  the  great  matter  to  which  Paul  adverted 
in  his  sermon  on  Mars  Hill,  when  he  said  that  the 
same  God  who  had  made  of  one  all  nations  of 
mankind,  had  also  "  determined  the  bounds  of 


12  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

their  habitation  that  they  all  should  seek  God 
if  haply  they  might  feel  after  and  find  him." 
Here  is  the  bedrock  for  all  philosophy  of  history 
that  is  real.  The  matter  of  ethnic  creation,  dif- 
ferentiation, and  habitat,  is  a  matter  mainly  of 
sovereign  and  hence  timeless  predetermination. 

In  the  early  idolatrous  venture  at  Babel,  the 
sons  of  Noah  bethought  them  to  ignore  the  pur- 
poses of  the  Most  High  as  to  peopling  the  earth 
in  diversity  and  variety.  And  God  broke  up  their 
profane  plans,  confused  their  speech,  and  sent 
them  whither  they  would  not,  to  work  out  his 
purposes  on  the  earth.  The  very  opposite  of  all 
they  had  planned  came  to  pass. 

How  mysterious  and  wholly  sovereign  also 
was  the  provisional  isolation  of  Israel  from  all 
other  peoples,  and  God's  distinctive  dealings  with 
them ! 

How  humanly  unaccountable  was  the  sweep 
of  the  hordes  of  barbaric  North  Europe  down 
upon  the  doomed  Roman  Empire,  when  she  had 
served  her  purpose  in  the  program  of  the  Infinite ! 
Hugo  says  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  '*  Water- 
loo was  not  a  battle ;  it  was  a  change  of  front  on 
the  part  of  the  universe ;  the  moment  had  arrived 
for  the  incorruptible  and  supreme  Equity  to  alter 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN    REDEMPTION         1 3 

its  plan."  "  Napoleon  had  been  denounced  in  in- 
finitude, and  his  fall  had  been  decided  on."  The 
marvelous  genesis  of  the  British  people  from  bar- 
baric tribes  like  the  Druids,  the  Picts,  the  Scots, 
the  Celts,  and  invaders  like  the  Angles,  the  Danes, 
the  Saxons,  and  Normans,  with  the  amazing 
composite  outcome  for  Christianity,  is  a  chapter 
quite  inexplicable  apart  from  a  cosmic  plan  for 
our  world. 

The  discovery  of  North  America  and  its  ex- 
ploitation, in  ways  that  Columbus  did  not  dream 
of  when  he  sailed  as  he  supposed  for  India,  were 
hidden  for  ages  in  the  divine  counsels. 

Our  late  war  with  Spain  and  our  unforeseen 
occupancy  of  the  Philippines,  with  the  new  world- 
relations  into  which  it  brought  us,  was  a  result 
that  no  human  statecraft  had  contemplated. 

The  closing  of  the  Chinese  Empire  against  the 
outer  world  for  millenniums  can  be  explained 
only  on  the  basis  of  some  great  cosmic  design  yet 
to  be  worked  out  for  the  glory  of  Christ.  Up  to 
the  present,  however,  the  whole  problem  has  been 
as  insoluble  as  the  Sphinx. 

4.  The  fixing  of  the  *'  times  and  seasons  "  also, 
sometimes  long-drawn  out,  and  again  ripening  in 
a  brief  day,  is  a  matter  explained  only  by  eternal 


14  THE    TASK    WORTH    WIIILE 

design.  When  the  curious  disciples  inquired, 
"  Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  king- 
dom to  Israel?"  he  answered  in  a  way  that 
entirely  disappointed  every  form  of  the  inquiry 
in  their  minds,  "  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  times 
and  seasons  which  the  Leather  hath  set  in  his  own 
authority."  He  however  assured  them  that  they 
should  receive  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
accredit  them  as  witnesses  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  Through  this  means  they  would  be  able 
logically  to  hasten  the  return  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
yet  they  could  not  force  an  issue,  nor  mark  off  the 
measures  of  a  time  program. 

5.  The  second  advent  of  Christ  to  earth  is  also 
a  matter  of  cosmic  rather  than  temporal  order, 
and  so  beyond  our  power  of  exact  determination. 
In  the  New  Testament  there  are  at  least  three 
clearly  defined  forms  of  the  divine  advent  (or 
*'  parousias,"  "  presences  "*)  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  all  forbidding  the  fixing  of  times  and 
seasons — the  dynamic  presence,  as  in  conversion 
or  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pentecost, 
the  historic  cataclysmic ,  as  in  the  fall  of  Jerusa- 
lem, which  issued  in  a  new  beginning  for  history, 
and  the  cosmic,  when  Christ  shall  come  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  and  the  time  order  will  cease. 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN    REDEMPTION  1 5 

And  besides  these,  the  transfiguration  of  our 
Lord  before  his  three  disciples  on  the  mount  is 
called  by  Peter  in  his  first  Epistle  a  parousia,  or 
coming  of  the  Lord.  It  stands  in  antithesis  to, 
or  perhaps  I  should  say  in  correlation  with,  his 
''  exodus  "  or  dying.  These  forms  of  the  parou- 
sia, these  returns  of  Christ,  or  comings  of  the 
King,  are  in  their  very  nature  all  attended  by  an 
element  of  surprise  to  the  natural  understand- 
ing. The  question  has  been  much  discussed 
whether  the  second  advent  of  Christ — as  if  that 
advent  were  always  covered  by  a  single  definite 
form  of  return,  and  that  spatial — is  a  coming  that 
is  imminent.  Now  in  their  logical  sense  all  forms 
of  the  parousia  are  imminent,  and  yet  in  terms  of 
time  each  may  be  conceived  as  tarrying  long. 
One  thing  is  perfectly  clear :  our  personal  logical 
attitude  to  them  is  to  be  imminent.  Hence  the 
scripture  injunction,  "  Watch  ye." 

In  fact,  it  is  ours  to  understand  not  the  program 
of  the  kingdom  but  its  genius.  Both  schools  of 
interpretation,  the  premillennial  and  the  post- 
millennial,  so  called,  fall  into  mistake  when  they 
treat  the  discourse  of  Christ  on  last  things  re- 
corded by  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  as  if  he 
intended  to  state  a  program  of  the  coming  king- 


l6  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

dom.     Doubtless   they  contain  a  program,   but 
apprehensible  only  to  the  Father's  mind. 

A  recent  writer  in  concluding  an  important 
published  paper,  mentions  among  questions  loom- 
ing large  on  the  horizon  of  every  biblical  student 
to-day,  this  one :  "  How  far  does  the  apparent 
expectation  of  Jesus  and  all  his  apostles  that  the 
world  would  speedily  come  to  an  end  affect  the 
attitude  of  Bible  students  toward  the  State,  to- 
ward art,  civilization,  and  all  the  tasks  of  modern 
life?"  The  writer  then  expresses  a  strong  con- 
viction that  even  though  there  was  in  Jesus  him- 
self "  a  mistaken  estimate  of  the  duration  of  the 
cosmos,  yet  in  the  message  and  character  of 
Jesus  there  remains  an  eternal  gospel  independent 
of  such  an  error,  and  that  the  spiritual  Lordship 
of  Christ  even  on  such  a  basis  is  more  clearly 
assured  than  ever  before."  But  this  same  writer 
is  careful  to  avoid  any  committal  of  himself  re- 
specting that  which  is  more  important  than  the 
message  and  character  of  Jesus,  viz.,  his  person. 
It  was  this  person,  even  the  deity  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  which  alone  can  explain  the  message  and 
character  of  Jesus,  and  which  alone  could  enable 
him  to  present  a  scheme  of  last  things  in  such 
profound  terms  and  vast  perspective  as  Matthew 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN    REDEMPTION         IJ 

in  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  his  Gospel  and 
the  other  synoptic  writers  afford.  The  fact  is, 
Christ  did  not  talk  about  ""  the  end  of  the  world," 
but  the  consummation  of  mi  age.  This  eschata- 
logical  discourse  of  Jesus  embraces  two  forms  of 
literary  expression,  the  one  historical  and  pro- 
saic, the  other  apocalyptic  and  enigmatic. 

The  result  is  a  literary  product  impossible  of 
interpretation  in  terms  of  time.  This  product 
is  purposely  composite  to  prevent  dogmatic 
speculation  respecting  things  wisely  hidden,  and 
to  lead  devout  disciples  to  discern  that  which  is 
so  much  deeper  than  a  program,  viz.,  the  impor- 
tance of  spiritual  adjustment  in  conduct  to  the 
realities  involved,  and  so  as  not  practically  to  be 
misled  by  mere  appearances. 

When  New  Testament  critics  dogmatically  as- 
sert or  even  imply  that  the  inspiration  inditing 
New  Testament  writings  was  "  mistaken,"  that 
the  apostles,  including  Jesus  himself,  were  so 
obsessed  by  the  narrow  expectation  of  the  times 
as  to  afford  predictions  which  were  in  absolute 
error,  they  wholly  misconceive  the  real  nature  of 
apocalyptic  writings,  or  they  have  fallen  into  radi- 
cal errors  of  a  deeper  sort. 

Granting  that  the  disciples,  prior  to  Pentecost, 


l8  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

did  share  in  narrow  and  material  Jewish  views, 
yet  when  decades  afterward  they  came  to  write, 
as  did  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians,  or  to  record 
Christ's  utterances,  that  as  divinely  chosen  writers 
they  were  "  mistaken "  or  misrepresented  our 
Lord  himself,  in  the  forecast  of  the  future,  we  do 
not  for  a  moment  believe.  The  apocalyptic  lan- 
guage simply  requires  a  deeper  insight,  a  more 
Christian  and  divinely  rational  interpretation. 
A  true  interpretation  must  always  keep  in  mind 
the  composite  sense  in  which  the  New  Testament 
term  parousia,  as  embracing  more  than  a  calendar 
program,  is  used. 

In  this  light,  what  becomes  of  some  of  the 
oracular  dicta  in  recent  literature  assuming  to  be 
critical  ? 

6.  Another  timeless  factor  in  this  divine  enter- 
prise of  saving  men,  is  the  outworking  of  the 
whole  drama  as  a  demonstration  to  the  universe 
of  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  the  satanic  or 
world  philosophy.  This  philosophy  was  intended 
to  destroy  man,  doubtless  in  resentment  for  Sa- 
tan's expulsion  from  heaven,  on  which,  however, 
through  the  grace  of  Christ,  the  tables  at  last 
will  be  turned.  Scripture  data  for  this  is  not  ex- 
tended or  dogmatic  in  form.     But  what  there  is 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN   REDEMPTION         1 9 

is  very  significant.     In  the  Bible  account  such 
things  as  the  following  are  presupposed  or  taken 
for  granted,  although  without  particular  explana- 
tion: a  premundane  order  out  of  which  tempta- 
tion to  man  emerged;  a  war  in  heaven  before 
time  was,  led  by  an  angelic  prince  who  lost  his 
first  estate  and  was  cast  down  from  heaven;  an 
age-long  enemy  of  the  seed  of  the  woman,  the 
heel  of  whom  Satan  would  severely  bruise,  while 
in  turn  his  own  head  would  be  crushed.    This  ad- 
versary of  our  race,  while  serpentine,  subtle,  and 
degraded,    like   one   crawling   in   the   dust,    was 
nevertheless,  according  to  the  vivid  picture  in  Eze- 
kiel's  vision,  able  to  transform  himself,  as  doubt- 
less he  did  to  our  first  parents,  into  a  glittering, 
fascinating  seraph— to  appearance  a  very  "  angel 
of  light" ;  and  so  was  the  more  able  to  seduce  "the 
very  elect  of  God."    This  adversary,  when  Christ 
appeared  and  the  juncture  became  so  critical,  es- 
pecially asserted  himself  in  mankind,  possessing 
the  diseased  and  the  epileptic,  in  manifold  ways. 
The  two  contestants  always  knew  each  other  at 
sight  as  age-long  opponents.     The  central  issue 
on  which  Satan  chiefly  confronted  Christ  was  the 
redemptive   principle   as   that   which   was   basic 
in  God's  relation  to  man.     The  death  of  Christ 


20  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

was  that  which  on  its  tragic  side  Satan  ever  in- 
tended to  compass,  but  which  on  its  voluntary 
atonement  side,  with  the  correlative  resurrection, 
despoiled  him  of  his  victory  and  confounded  his 
philosophy.  The  final  victory  over  this  enemy 
was  in  that  glorification  which  Christ  assumed 
at  his  ascension,  when  he  "  led  captivity  captive," 
and  despite  all  satanic  machinations  bore  our 
glorified  human  nature  home  with  him  to  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father.  This  was  the  "  death 
of  death  and  hell's  destruction."  The  Twenty- 
fourth  psalm  is  its  appropriate  apotheosis. 

The  fundamental  issue  on  which  our  spiritual 
probation  in  this  life  turns,  is  whether  we  will  be 
ruled  by  this  satanic  philosophy,  by  self,  by  the 
world-principle,  or  by  the  principle  on  which 
Christ  went  to  his  cross  near  the  end  of  his 
earthly  probation :  "  The  prince  of  this  world 
Cometh  and  hath  nothing  in  me,  but  that  the 
world  may  know  that  I  love  the  Father,"  a  de- 
monstration the  opposite  of  the  one  Satan  sought. 
The  probable  object  in  permitting  Satan  to  live 
is  to  secure  in  the  sight  of  all  spiritual  intelli- 
gences, good  and  bad,  a  reduction  to  absurdity  of 
that  satanic  philosophy,  which  is  the  opposite  of 
Christ's.     This  is  the  judgment  of  many  great 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN    REDEMPTION         21 

missionaries  also,  like  Ashmore  and  Nevius,  re- 
specting the  persistence  of  heathen  religions. 
These  missionaries  believed  that  all  the  historic 
pagan  systems  of  thought  or  philosophy  are  per- 
mitted to  run  their  long  course,  that  the  final  dem- 
onstration of  their  inadequacy  may  be  so  self- 
evident  and  on  such  a  scale  that  the  God  of  the 
whole  universe  will  stand  self-vindicated  beyond 
a  murmur  in  the  end. 

Over  against  this  rediictio  ad  absurdum  will 
stand  the  peerless  religion  of  God's  Son,  with  its 
glorious  redeemed  fruits  gathered  out  of  all  the 
nations;  and  the  whole  universe  will  hail  Chris- 
tianity as  supreme  over  all  rivals. 

Christ  once  proleptically  said,  as  he  looked 
straight  into  his  coming  cross :  ''  Now  is  the 
judgment  of  this  world.  Now  shall  the  prince  of 
this  world  be  cast  out;  and  I  if  I  be  uplifted  out 
of  the  world  " — i.  e.,  on  to  resurrection  ground — 
*'  will  draw  all  unto  me." 

7.  Finally,  the  eternal  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  as 
the  efficient  agent  and  executive  of  all  divine 
power,  is  the  supreme  timeless  factor  in  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  The  atonement  itself,  on 
which  everything  in  the  evangelical  system  de- 
pends,   was   wrought   as   we   read   in   Hebrews 


22.  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

"  through  an  eternal  Spirit."  Thus  the  recon- 
ciHation  historical  in  the  Lamb  of  Calvary  is 
thrown  back  for  its  energy  on  the  counsels  and 
sacrificial  outgoings  of  the  same  Spirit  that 
brooded  over  primeval  chaos. 

The  spiritual  life,  per  se,  is  the  mystical  realiza- 
tion of  the  eternal  under  the  conditions  of  time. 
This  life  is  in  its  quality,  its  finality  of  value,  and 
not  merely  in  duration  as  we  measure  that  term. 

It  is  by  this  same  Spirit  that  any  marked  spirit- 
ual achievement  is  wrought.  ''  It  is  not  by  might 
nor  by  an  army,  but  by  my  Spirit,"  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts.  "  Having  done  all,  we  are  but  un- 
profitable servants." 

And  the  preaching  of  the  everlasting  gospel  is 
efificient  only  as  under  the  inditing  influence  of 
the  divine  Spirit,  ''  the  powers  of  the  age  to 
come  " — powers  linked  with  eternity  past  also, 
take  hold  of  men. 

Now  the  moment  we  have  seen  these  things 
potential  in  a  timeless  realm,  the  whole  mission- 
ary conception  is  carried  up  to  a  plane  more  than 
temporal  or  economic.  We  have  a  basis  on  which 
to  form  a  proper  ideal  of  its  true  aim,  on  which 
modestly  to  estimate  our  own  instrumentality, 
and  from  which  to  gather  the  highest  inspirations 


MISSIONS   GROUNDED   IN   REDEMPTION         23 

for  our  task.  We  have  not  to  originate,  but  to 
co-operate.  Ours  is  to  seek  to  actualize  that  which 
is  potential.  We  are  to  labor  with  God  and  not 
by  our  own  main  strength  strive  to  accomphsh 
that  to  which  God  only  is  equal. 

As  the  atonement  in  him  was  no  afterthought, 
so  our  going  out  after  men  is  not  simply  to  re- 
cover the  lost.  Instead  of  being  that  only,  from 
another  point  of  view,  it  is  the  going  after  the 
potentially  saved  also,  and  herein  is  the  positive 
inspiration  of  our  task.  We  thus  but  seek  the 
proleptic  goal  of  all  history,  human  and  divine. 
As  it  is  God's  greatest  task,  so  it  is  ours,  the 
task  really  worth  while. ^  And  for  its  realization, 
the  very  "  stars  in  their  courses,"  and  all  other 
forces  of  the  universe  as  well,  fight  for  us,  to  the 
praise  of  Him  who  hath  called  us  out  of  dark- 
ness into  his  own  marvelous  light. 

1  Isa.  49  :  6  (Standard  revision). 


LECTURE  II 

THE   PROVIDENTIAL  FACTORS   IN 
MODERN  MISSIONS 


LECTURE  II 

IN  our  last  lecture  we  recognized  the  provi- 
dential moral  order  as  one  of  the  factors 
timeless  in  origin,  in  the  divine  enterprise  of  mis- 
sions. 

In  this  lecture  we  shall  more  particularly  note 
the  manner  in  which  the  providential  factor  his- 
torically works  out,  prepares  the  way  for,  and 
co-operates  with,  specific  mission  enterprise.  It 
may  be  well  to  remind  ourselves  again  of  what 
we  referred  to  in  our  last  lecture,  namely,  of  the 
two  ways  in  which  the  kingdom  advances :  the 
first  by  a  process  of  development,  and  the  second 
through  the  principle  of  crisis,  or  cataclysm. 

According  to  the  first  method  of  the  kingdom's 
advance,  things  move  along  evenly  in  an  appar- 
ently natural  way. 

According  to  the  second  or  cataclysmic  method, 
all  at  once  things  come  to  a  head  like  a  gathering 
tempest,  and  then  the  storm  suddenly  breaks, 
with  destructiveness  and  disaster.  But  even  the 
cataclysm  is  in  order  to  better  things.     Such  a 

27 


28  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

cataclysm  was  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  under 
Titus,  and  our  Civil  War,  resulting  in  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  slaves  of  the  South.  This  latter 
factor  must  be  embraced  as  one  of  the  forms 
under  which  the  kingdom  comes,  because  our 
world  has  its  existence  under  the  aegis  of  a  re- 
demptive or  grace  system. 

And  every  outworking  of  grace  has  in  it  the 
element  of  something  at  once  expected,  and  yet 
of  surprise  when  it  actually  comes.  Although 
occurring  in  time,  it  is  above  time,  for  it  par- 
takes in  nature  of  the  supramundane.  Logically 
speaking,  successions  may  be  near  and  yet  far 
apart  in  time.  In  all  the  teachings  of  Christ,  the 
truth  he  gave  was  in  the  expectation  that  it  would 
be  lived  upon,  become  experienced,  and  hence  it 
was  that  in  Christ's  eschatological  discourse,  par- 
ticularly, he  disclosed  nothing  for  the  mere  sake 
of  gratifying  curiosity,  even  religious  curiosity. 
His  object  in  this  discourse  was  to  save  his  disci- 
ples from  being  misled  and  harried  by  wolves, 
when  the  times  of  distress  and  cataclysm  should 
arise ;  and  he  knew  they  would  arise,  not  once  nor 
twice,  but  many  times.  He  therefore  reveals  only 
so  much  of  the  facts  and  principles  affecting  the 
future,  as  would  consist  with  the  true  living  of  the 


PROVIDENTIAL    FACTORS    IN    MISSIONS  29 

disciples,  and  the  rest,  not  being  pertinent  to  his 
aim,  he  left  unsaid.  There  is  therefore  no  data 
left  in  Christ's  discourse  on  last  things  for  mere 
speculation,  and  when  people  engage  in  it,  in 
whatever  "  school  of  thought,"  they  always  go 
astray. 

The  very  fact  that  our  world  exists  under  the 
3egis  of  a  redemptive  system  involves  methods  and 
energies  beyond  our  power  accurately  to  interpret. 
But  this,  though  involving  an  element  of  mystery, 
is  a  very  different  conception  of  the  world  from 
that  which  is  entertained  by  the  rationalistic 
modern  mind.  The  cosmos  is  supposed  by  this 
mind  to  be  a  naturalistic  entity,  something  exist- 
ing in  its  own  right,  disconnected  from  religious 
uses,  if  not  from  design  in  God  himself. 

But  nature,  whether  moving  on  in  the  even 
tenor  of  its  way  or  through  apparently  violent 
breaks,  is  under  the  Divine  control.  Our  world 
is  not  a  naturalistic  product;  it  is  a  created  world, 
and  created  with  a  view  to  new  creation.  What 
we  call  nature  is  not  something  existing  in  isola- 
tion from  God,  all  by  itself,  with  autonomous 
power  to  originate,  perpetuate,  or  control  itself. 
Nature  is  something  created  and  upheld  by  God- 
in-Christ.    That  which  makes  it  a  cosmos  as  op- 


30  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

posed  to  a  chaos,  is  that  God  dwells  in  it  by  his 
immanence,  and  above  it  by  his  transcendence 
which  interacts  with  it.  Our  world  is  a  creation 
in  grace ;  it  is  set  to  the  key  of  grace,  and  is  work- 
ing to  the  ends  of  grace.  When  that  purpose  is 
all  worked  out,  it  will  cease  to  be  even  the  cosmos 
that  it  now  is,  for  the  cosmos  itself  will  "  be  de- 
livered into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  sons 
of  God." 

Our  economy  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  a  mani- 
festation of  providence  and  grace,  as  if  they 
were  two  different  things,  instead  of  two  mani- 
festations of  the  same  thing  in  different  realms. 
Really,  what  we  call  providence  is  itself  but  a 
form  of  grace's  working  in  the  order  and  history 
of  events  in  co-operation  with  the  work  of  the 
divine  Spirit.  God  often  speaks  in  an  event,  if 
we  but  had  the  ear  to  hear,  as  really  as  he  does  in 
his  written  word. 

The  doctrine  of  providence  is  simply  this:  the 
disposition  and  ability  of  the  God  of  grace  to 
sanctify  life's  values  to  us,  whatever  be  the  out- 
ward and  material  conditions  of  our  life.  The 
doctrine  is  possible  from  the  fact  that  the  soul 
has  but  one  final  and  absolute  need,  namely  God. 
"  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  and  there  is 


PROVIDENTIAL    FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         3 1 

none  upon  the  earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee." 
'*  For  we  know  that  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God." 

This  is  a  doctrine  that  cannot  be  abstractly 
proved,  i.  e.,  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
mere  intellect.  Very  few  Christian  truths  can  be 
so  proved,  for  the  reason  that  the  proof  is  found 
in  the  life  rather  than  in  a  mere  department  or 
fragment  of  that  life,  the  intellect.  When,  how- 
ever, the  Scripture  promises  are  tentatively  but 
heartily  accepted  as  true,  and  the  soul  then  pro- 
ceeds to  risk  itself  upon  their  reality,  ever-increas- 
ing tranquillity  will  come  to  the  one  who  thus 
lives,  and  the  evidence  of  the  blessedness  of  thus 
living  will  more  and  more  grow  until  at  length 
no  event,  however  distressing,  can  shake  the  soul's 
confidence  that  "  underneath  are  the  everlasting 
arms."  One  will  say  with  Job:  "  Behold  he  will 
slay  me,  I  have  no  hope.  Nevertheless  I  will 
maintain  my  ways  before  him."  Or  with  Paul, 
"  For  our  light  affliction  which  is  but  for  a  mo- 
ment, worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory,  while  we  look  not  at 
the  things  which  are  seen  but  at  the  things  which 
are  not  seen." 

Nor  does  providence  imply  any  violent  inter- 


32  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

ruption  of  the  orderly  ongoing  of  the  world.  A 
miracle  even  is  no  violation  of  the  divine  pre- 
science, much  less  of  the  divine  power.  It  is 
rather  the  transcendence  of  a  lower  realm  of  law 
by  a  higher  realm,  or  by  the  Author  of  that  law. 
The  universe  has  been  fitted  up  for  the  sort  of 
thing  which  to  us,  from  our  finite  point  of  view, 
is  superhuman  and  miraculous,  but  never  a  vio- 
lation of  real  sanctities.  No  one  can  think  of  the 
derangements  of  moral  order  from  sin  in  the 
universe,  and  contemplate  the  proposed  remedy 
for  them,  and  not  be  sure  that  miracle  is  requi- 
site to  the  undoing  of  what  Bushnell  calls  "  un- 
nature." 

On  this  basis  we  can  pray.  We  need  not  fear 
that  if  our  prayer  is  answered  we  shall  introduce 
chaos  into  the  universe.  When  the  conductor  of 
an  electric  car  places  his  trolley  on  the  overhead 
wire,  he  does  not  derange  the  power  house  miles 
away,  nor  the  system  which  is  wired  for  his  use. 

God's  universe  is  wired  for  the  use  of  his 
children.  Nay,  the  illustration  is  too  mechanical. 
As  the  electric  ether  that  envelops  our  earth  has 
been  awaiting  for  ages  the  coming  of  the  dis- 
coverer that  could  make  use  of  the  viewless  energy 
for  flashing  his  messages  across  the  seas,  so  in  the 


PROVIDENTIAL    FACTORS    IN    MISSIONS  33 

divine  providence  myriads  of  potencies  are  wait- 
ing to  serve  us  when  we  become  adjusted  to  them, 
and  violence  is  done  to  nothing.  Nay,  even  this 
is  inadequate.  As  the  air  is  ever  pressing — 
fifteen  pounds  to  the  square  inch — to  enter  every 
vacuum,  so  our  God,  while  yet  personal,  is  eagerly 
yearning  for  the  opening  of  our  hearts  and  lives 
that  he  may  come  in  and  bless  us. 

The  personality  of  man,  even,  because  it  is 
personal,  and  can  purpose  and  design,  can  make 
use  of  the  very  fixities  of  lawlike  gravitation  to 
produce  levitation,  as  all  aviators  now  do  to  ef- 
fect results  which  mere  law  alone  can  never  pro- 
duce. Burbank,  the  wizard,  in  floral  and  vege- 
table modification,  by  personality  can  do  the 
miraculous.  Let  that  personality,  however,  be 
withdrawn,  and  all  the  exquisite  products  of  the 
strange  skill  will  go  back  to  the  wild.  If  then 
man,  without  violence,  by  the  introduction  of  free 
agency,  can  effect  such  results,  shall  not  God  be 
able  to  do  vastly  more  on  the  same  principle  ? 

A  very  beautiful  account  of  the  reality  of  this 
great  principle  of  providence  I  give  from  the  pen 
of  the  late  Baroness  Bunsen,  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  cultivated  women  of  the  last  century. 
She  was  the  wife  of  the  distinguished  Chevalier 
c 


34  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Bunsen,  lived  her  long  married  life  in  the  court 
circles  of  Europe,  more  than  twenty  years  of 
that  time  at  the  papal  court  of  Rome,  where  her 
hospitable  home  was  frequented  by  statesmen, 
diplomats,  historians,  poets,  musicians  like  Men- 
delssohn, and  secretaries  like  Abeken,  for  many 
years  the  private  secretary  of  Bismarck.  This  wo- 
man, even  early  in  life,  once  wrote  to  her  English 
mother  in  these  terms :  ''  I  have  begun  the  new 
year  with  a  degree  of  cheerfulness  of  spirit  which 
I  would  not  by  any  consideration  contrive  to  les- 
sen, wherefore  I  have  allowed  myself  to  enjoy 
unrestrained  a  feeling  which  I  am  thankful  to 
say  grows  upon  me  every  year,  of  confidence  not 
in  the  prosperity  of  life,  but  in  the  power  of  go- 
ing through  with  God's  assistance  whatever  life 
may  bring;  going  through,  not  as  a  beast  of 
burden  groaning  under  the  weight  imposed,  but 
as  the  joyful  bearer  of  the  ark  of  the  sanctuary. 
Human  strength  alone  is  as  insufficient  to  support 
the  weight  of  a  feather  as  of  a  mountain,  but  with 
that  aid  which  is  ever  granted  to  them  that  ask, 
the  mountain  will  not  be  more  oppressive  than  the 
feather." 

Now  this  doctrine  of  providence  is  grounded 
in  two  things:  first,  in  the  nature  of  the  divine 


PROVIDENTIAL   FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         35 

love,  which  ever  yearns  to  impart  God's  own  type 
of  blessedness  in  the  unfolding  of  all  human  life ; 
and  secondly,  in  the  fact  that  he  who  puts  himself 
en  rapport  with  such  a  God  will  find  all  things 
working  together  for  his  good.  Then  he  need 
expect  nothing  to  happen  to  him  inconsistent  with 
his  highest  and  real  well-being. 

No  other  system  than  Christianity  has  such  a 
doctrine.  Neither  can  any  other  system  have  such 
a  doctrine,  because  no  other  has  any  such  idea 
of  God  as  gracious,  on  the  one  hand,  nor  such  a 
hope  of  living  fellowship  with  him  on  the  other. 

Then  no  matter  what  betides  thee,  O  child 

of  the  King! 
All  may  be  well. 

Browning,  in  his  "  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,"  does  not 
exaggerate  when  he  sings : 

He  fixed  thee  'mid  this  dance 

Of  plastic  circumstance, 

This  present,  thou  forsooth,  wouldst  fain 

arrest; 
Machinery  just  meant 
To  give  thy  soul  its  bent, 
Try  thee,  and  turn  thee  forth  sufficiently 

impressed. 
Look  not  thou  down  but  up; 
To  uses  of  a  cup, 


36  THE    TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

The  festal  board  lamps  flash  and  trumpets 

peal, 
The  new  wine's  foaming  flow. 
The  Master's  lips  aglow: 
Thou  heaven's  consummate  cup 
What  needest  thou  with  earth's  wheel? 

Now,  if  providence  has  a  large  place  in  the 
development  and  ongoing  of  the  personal  Chris- 
tian life,  surely  we  must  regard  the  same  princi- 
ple as  figuring  largely  in  the  progress  of  the  cor- 
porate, best  life  of  the  church  in  the  realm  of 
missions.  Yet  there  is  a  common  tendency  to 
overlook  this  factor,  inasmuch  as  in  itself  it  is  not 
a  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  so  thought  to  be 
outside  evangelical  potencies/  True,  its  fruits 
cannot  be  expressed  in  statistical  tables,  nor  classi- 
fied in  apparent  spiritual  results.  But  their  aim 
and  uses  are  spiritual,  though  not  measurable  in 
figures. 

I  lately  saw  a  statement  in  one  of  our  religious 
weeklies,  that  after  all  the  accomplishments  of 
modern  missions,  there  are  more  heathen  in  the 
world  now  than  when  modern  missions  began. 
Could  anything  be  more  misleading?  While 
figures  literally  construed  would  make  the  situa- 

1  For  further  thought  on  subject,  see  my  "  Divine  Right  of  Missions," 
pp.  59-66. 


ROVIDENTIAL    FACTORS    IN    MISSIONS  2)7 

tion  appear  discouraging,  yet  the  editor  did  not 
tell  us  that  it  is  also  true  that,  practically,  in 
view  of  the  general  results  of  mission  work,  the 
great  mass  of  the  heathen  now  come  into  a  greatly 
changed  world  from  that  of  their  fathers ;  changed 
too,  by  events  as  well  as  by  the  widely  pervasive 
influence  of  Christian  ideals.  The  translation  of 
the  Bible  alone  has  been  so  universal  in  all  the 
leading  languages,  that  the  people  of  any  impor- 
tant race  can  have  access  to  the  mind  of  God  if 
they  will.  India,  Japan,  and  China  are  not  the 
same  countries  they  were  even  twenty  years  ago. 
Socially  and  educationally  they  have  undergone 
revolutionary  changes.  God  has  made  use  even 
of  wars  and  violent  social  convulsions,  as  an  elec- 
tric storm  is  used  to  clear  the  atmosphere. 

The  Christian  church  is  representatively  estab- 
lished in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  humaneness 
now  prevails  in  vast  areas  where  for  ages  cruel- 
ties, barbarism,  and  even  cannibalism  have  existed 
unchecked  until  some  Carey,  some  Livingstone, 
some  Paton,  some  Chalmers,  some  Calvert  ap- 
peared and  began  his  transforming  work.  The 
map  then  that  would  now  do  justice  to  the  situa- 
tion is  not  a  mass  of  jet  black,  with  only  a  small 
dot  of  white  in  the  center  to  represent  the  Chris- 


38  THE  TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

tianized  part.  A  truer  representation  would  be  a 
gray  mass,  and  even  this  planted  with  centers  of 
new  life  resembling  the  nerve  ganglia  in  the 
human  body,  with  filaments  shooting  in  myriad 
directions,  through  and  through  the  gray;  and 
these  electric  with  potential  alterative  power  over 
the  whole  body  of  heathenism.  Or  to  change  the 
figure,  God  has  been  wiring  the  world  for  some 
great  consummation,  and  the  preliminary  stages 
of  this  may  be  slow  as  compared  with  the  sudden- 
ness of  the  denouement.  Some  years  ago  Gen- 
eral Newton,  a  New  York  engineer,  undertook  to 
rid  the  East  River  of  some  mischievous  obstruc- 
tions in  a  part  of  the  channel  known  as  Hell  Gate. 
He  was  long  occupied  in  mining  tunnels  under  the 
river,  placing  his  dynamite  cartridges,  and  wiring 
the  connections.  But  at  last  it  required  but  the 
touch  of  the  finger  of  the  engineer's  child  to  ex- 
plode the  mass. 

The  vast  significance  of  the  changes  in  the 
East  wrought  out  on  a  national,  even  interna- 
tional scale,  is  a  matter  of  inconceivable  moment. 

In  the  light  of  such  providences,  some  of  the 
sweeping  criticisms  respecting  the  success  of  mis- 
sions are  made  to  appear  in  their  superficialness 
and  injustice.     The  fathers  are  sometimes  merci- 


PROVIDENTIAL   FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         39 

lessly  censured  because  they  so  neglected  the 
Christianizing  of  the  heathen  of  their  time.  But 
we  have  failed  to  read  history,  or  we  have  read 
it  amiss,  if  we  hastily  sanction  such  injustice. 

The  truth  is,  that  even  so  recently  as  the  Refor- 
mation, the  idea  of  the  possibility — not  to  say  the 
duty — of  attempting  to  Christianize  what  we  now 
know  as  the  heathen  world,  was  scarcely  enter- 
tained. 

Erasmus,  indeed,  was  an  exception.  In  his 
tractate  on  "  The  Art  of  Preaching,"  he  advised 
the  Christians  of  his  time  to  beseech  Christ  to 
send  sowers  to  scatter  the  seed  in  the  many  un- 
evangelized  lands.  But  Luther  had  no  interest  in 
that  sort  of  missions  at  all.  Warneck  testifies  that 
to  Luther's  thought  "  the  church  was  not  a  mis- 
sionary body,  but  an  assembly  of  saints  in  which 
the  gospel  is  truly  taught  and  the  sacraments  are 
duly  administered."  Luther  also  held  a  doctrine 
of  last  things  that  precluded  his  having  any  special 
conscience  respecting  the  matter  of  evangelizing 
any  heathen.  He  thought  that  history  was  so  far 
advanced  that  the  heathen  had  already  exhausted 
their  probation  in  the  early  ages,  and  that  Chris- 
tendom need  not  concern  itself  further  for  them. 
Luther  thought  with  almost  the  narrowness  of  a 


40  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

Miller  of  1840,  that  the  last  day  was  at  hand.  On 
one  occasion  he  was  so  discouraged  respecting  the 
state  of  the  world,  that  he  remarked :  *'  Asia  and 
Africa  have  no  gospel.  Another  hundred  years 
and  all  will  be  over ;  God's  word  will  disappear  for 
want  of  any  to  preach  it."  He  was  probably 
under  the  juniper  bush  when  he  said  this,  but  he 
was  sincere.  Of  course  there  were  some  circum- 
stances almost  impossible  for  us  now  to  realize, 
that  accounted  for  so  pessimistic  a  view. 

The  only  exploitation  of  regions  abroad  in  that 
time  was  that  of  the  papacy;  and  it  was  shock- 
ingly secular,  consisting  mainly  of  the  discovery 
and  occupation  of  new  lands  for  colonial  posses- 
sion, and  all  this  in  the  interests  of  a  worldly 
imperialism.  It  was  easy  then  for  the  Reformers 
to  shrink  from  foreign  exploitation  thus  encum- 
bered and  embarrassed  as  the  world  situation  was. 

Then  the  magnitude  of  the  task  which  the 
Reformers  had  on  hand,  struggling  as  they  were 
with  all  sorts  of  abuses  and  corruptions  in  the 
only  church  which  existed  at  home  at  all,  was  so 
vast  and  carried  on  at  such  odds,  in  both  the  doc- 
trinal and  imperial  realms,  that  their  energies 
were  taxed  to  the  utmost.  They  had  little  re- 
source  or  courage   just  then   for   attacking  the 


PROVIDENTIAL   FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         4 1 

problems  of  heathendom.  They  had  on  hand  a 
great  home  mission  work ;  nay,  they  had  to  main- 
tain their  own  trembhng  existence.  Besides,  no 
such  open  doors  existed  then  as  in  our  time,  com- 
pelling conscience  to  our  modern  lines  of  effort. 

Nor  must  the  fearful  scourge  of  the  Mohamme- 
dan invasion  upon  all  Bible  lands  and  its  dis- 
couraging effect  upon  the  Christendom  of  that 
time  be  overlooked,  as  accounting  in  large  degree 
for  the  lack  of  vision  of  any  hopeful  prospects 
in  the  heathen  world  within  reach  at  the  end  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  Yet,  despite  all  these  draw- 
backs, the  period  of  the  Reformation  was  all  im- 
portant in  preparing  the  way  for  our  own  great 
time.  The  chained  Bible  was  loosed.  Men  were 
set  studying  it.  Liberty  of  conscience  began  to 
be  felt,  so  that  ere  long  men  began  to  feel  that 
they  had  freedom  to  go  forth  and  share  their 
blessings,  so  recently  received,  with  others. 

The  era  of  missions  was  necessarily  preceded 
by  a  period  of  Bible  study  that  would  qualify  for 
wide  Bible  translation,  the  very  initial  work  of  a 
missionary  to  a  new  people.  The  fulness  of  mis- 
sionary times  to  the  heathen  was  certainly  not  yet 
for  a  long  period  to  the  Reformers  and  their  suc- 
cessors. 


42  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

About  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  how- 
ever, was  ushered  in  an  epoch  so  altered  from 
anything  before  known  since  the  apostolic  age, 
respecting  activity  in  missionary  thought  and  en- 
deavor, that  the  whole  era  is  known  as  that  of 
"  modern  missions." 

But  even  this  had  its  extraordinary  providen- 
tial preparation.  V/e  have  but  to  note  the  stri- 
king occurrences  related  to  gospel  propagation 
which  have  occurred  mostly  within  a  century  or 
a  little  more,  and  to  connect  them  with  what  has 
taken  place  since  in  gospel  effort  in  the  distant 
parts  of  the  earth,  to  realize  how  determinative 
even  the  providential  factor  is  in  hastening  the 
kingdom  of  God.    We  mention  a  few  of  these : 

The  development  of  the  science  of  navigation. 

Wide  exploration. 

The  extension  of  trade  and  commerce. 

European  colonization  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Inventions  like  printing,  the  mariner's  compass, 
steam-power,  cheap  paper. 

The  development  of  philanthropies  since  Wil- 
berforce. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  and  Aus- 
tralia. 


PROVIDENTIAL   FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         43 

The  building  of  railroads,  canals,  and  steam- 
ships. 

The  invention  of  telegraphy,  cables,  wireless 
communication. 

The  opening  of  treaty  ports  in  sealed  countries. 

The  American  Civil  War,  and  its  results. 

Stanley's  search  for  Livingstone,  and  opening 
of  Africa. 

Our  late  war  with  Spain. 

The  vast  migrations  to  our  New  World,  and 
within  it. 

I  now  point  out  a  few  notable  instances  that 
may  serve  as  examples  of  the  way  in  which 
events,  apparently  unpropitious,  have  interlocked 
themselves  with  the  work  of  missions,  so  that  in 
the  end  the  tables  were  fairly  turned  upon  oppo- 
sition. 

I.  One  of  the  apparently  overwhelming  defeats 
of  historic  Christianity  was  the  conquest  of  all 
the  lands  of  the  early  Christian  church  by  the 
Moslem  power,  culminating  in  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople in  1453. 

One  after  another  all  the  capitals  of  early 
Christendom — Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Alexandria, 
Damascus,  and  Constantinople,  with  the  seats  of 


44  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

four  hundred  bishoprics  in  Arabia,  Syria,  Egypt, 
TripoH,  Tunis,  Algeria,  and  in  Morocco  and  even 
Spain,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracen.  And  all 
the  Crusades,  with  eight  hundred  years  of  other 
various  Christian  effort,  have  never  yet  been  able 
to  recover  the  ground.  And  why?  Let  him  an- 
swer who  can.  The  power  which  wrought  all 
this  havoc  arose  right  out  of  the  desert.  Hu- 
manly speaking,  it  was  causeless.  And  yet  we 
know  there  is  some  deep  reason  for  the  dread  mys- 
tery and  for  that  deadlock  in  history  which  "  the 
abomination  of  desolation  in  the  holy  place  "  still 
constitutes.  It  will  never  be  understood  except  in 
the  light  of  some  fulfilment  yet  to  be  manifested. 
Yet  that  very  fall  of  the  great  Eastern  metropolis, 
Constantinople,  dispersed  many  Greek  scholars 
with  their  numerous  manuscripts  into  Southern 
Europe,  and  there  began  a  preparation  for  a  pro- 
founder  study  of  the  Scriptures  than  the  world 
had  before  known,  and  without  which  world-wide 
translation  and  diffusion  of  the  divine  word  would 
have  been  vastly  delayed. 

2.  The  fierce  persecution  of  the  pre-Reforma- 
tion  period,  beginning  with  the  burning  of  Huss 
at  Constance,  looked  as  if  a  spiritual  Christianity 
was  to  be  crushed  out  of  the  earth,  and  yet  there 


PROVIDENTIAL   FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         45 

emerged  out  of  it  the  Pietism  of  Bohemia  and 
Germany,  represented  by  such  worthies  as 
Francke,  Spener,  Jacob  Boehme,  Count  Zinzen- 
dorf,  and  as  Wesley  in  England,  and  Jonathan 
Edwards  in  New  England. 

3.  The  attempt  to  strangle  the  missionary  im- 
pulses of  Carey  and  his  compeers  by  the  wit  and 
ridicule  of  Sidney  Smith,  abetted  by  the  political 
jobbery  of  the  East  India  Company,  seemed  at 
first  to  succeed,  but  it  all  served  only  to  test  and 
purify  the  movement  of  missions,  and  to  rouse 
Wilberforce,  and  other  philanthropists  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

History  shows  that  about  this  time  also  an 
opposition,  as  from  Satan  himself,  broke  out  in 
all  sorts  of  virulence  against  the  cause.  Increased 
cannibalism,  wilder  fetishism,  more  bitter  caste 
oppression,  severer  Chinese  exclusiveness,  and  in- 
tolerance in  papal  lands,  and  absolute  prohibi- 
tion in  Moslem  territory,  came  on  with  a  desper- 
ate onslaught.  Gates  of  steel  seemed  to  erect 
themselves  everywhere.  But  God  did  not  forsake 
his  servants.  Those  same  gates  soon  began  to 
open  almost  of  their  own  accord.  Nay,  the  walls 
of  Jericho  began  to  fall  down  flat.  Within  five 
years,  from  1853  to  1858,  new  and  unexpected 


46  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

facilities  were  given  to  the  entrance  of  seven  dif- 
ferent countries,  at  least:  India,  China,  Japan, 
Africa,  South  America,  Turkey,  and  Mexico; 
countries  embracing  two-thirds  of  the  world's 
population.  It  was  like  the  sinking  of  vast  areas 
of  the  earth's  surface  in  some  past  geologic  age 
to  let  in  the  ocean  floods. 

4.  The  abuses  of  the  East  India  Company,  in 
the  early  days  of  its  history,  in  Calcutta  and  other 
great  Eastern  centers.  Young  Robert  Clive,  a 
daring  Englishman,  was  one  of  the  employees  of 
this  company.  At  one  time  he  was  so  reckless  in 
his  course  that  he  twice  attempted  to  blow  his 
own  brains  out,  but  the  pistol  missed  fire  and  he 
awoke  to  a  new  sense  of  his  responsibilities  for 
reducing  chaotic  India  to  some  sort  of  unity  and 
decent  government.  He  became  the  leader  of  the 
limited  forces  of  Britain,  consisting  of  only  five 
or  six  thousand  men,  conquering  Surajah  Dowlah 
with  a  force  of  sixty  thousand  native  Hindus, 
subordinating  also  French  influence  in  India, 
which  led  to  the  founding  of  the  East  Indian  Em- 
pire under  Protestant  Britain. 

The  greatness  of  the  providential  fact  of  the  de- 
velopment of  India  for  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
Eastern  world,  even  as  a  sort  of  companion  pic- 


PROVIDENTIAL    FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         47 

ture  to  the  development  of  our  great  republic  and 
the  New  World,  was  strongly  borne  in  upon  me 
in  my  visit  to  India  in  1890.  Until  then  I  had 
scarcely  observed  the  historic  fact  that  the  same 
Cornwallis,  who  at  Yorktown  surrendered  his 
sword  to  our  Washington,  became  the  first 
governor-general  of  India.  God  seemed  to  have 
said  to  Britain :  ''  You  may  leave  those  colonial- 
ists in  New  England,  Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas 
to  set  up  their  own  housekeeping,  and  send  your 
former  agents  from  America  to  India  to  work 
out  a  companion  result  to  that  under  way  in  the 
New  World."  Suppose  India  in  the  time  of  Clive 
had  been  left  to  be  dominated  by  the  French,  that 
is,  by  papal  influence,  would  there  have  been  set 
up  in  the  region  of  Calcutta  the  printing-presses 
of  that  great  triumvirate  Carey,  Marshman,  and 
Ward,  to  provide  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  so  many 
languages  and  dialects?  Would  there  have  been 
established  any  such  base  line  of  Christian  opera- 
tions for  all  the  East  as  India  has  proved  to  be? 
The  occupation  by  Protestant  England  of  the 
mongrel,  chaotic  India  of  a  century  and  a  quarter 
ago,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  providences 
in  all  modern  history.  I  know  there  have  been 
abuses  of  this  power.    I  do  not  forget  the  fearful 


48  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

corruptions  of  the  early  East  India  Trading  Com- 
pany, nor  the  malfeasance  in  office  of  Warren 
Hastings.  But  I  also  recall  the  magnificent  moral 
courage  of  the  better  England  that  had  the  per- 
sistence to  bring  Hastings  to  book,  in  a  trial  that 
lasted  eleven  years.  Nor  should  we  forget  that 
the  Christian  conscience  of  England,  represented 
by  such  heroes  as  Wilberforce  and  Clarkson, 
thundered  against  the  abuses  of  the  East  India 
Company  and  the  English  slave  trade,  until 
changes  ensued  that  prepared  the  way  for  the 
best  reforms  of  modern  times. 

The  Sepoy  rebellion  proved  also  but  the  pre- 
lude to  the  larger  opening  of  India.  It  looked  at 
one  time  as  if  all  was  lost;  but  God  had  antici- 
pated the  situation  and  among  other  agencies  he 
used  this:  Lord  Lawrence,  the  high  English  of- 
ficial of  the  Punjab,  had  invited  Messrs.  Newton 
and  Forman,  American  missionaries,  to  extend 
their  mission  work  to  the  north  of  the  Sutlej  Riv- 
er, and  a  little  later  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes,  com- 
missioner of  Peshawur,  an  Afghan  city,  sent  for 
the  missionaries,  saying  to  some  objectors :  ''  India 
was  given  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  missions 
to  the  souls  more  than  to  the  bodies  of  men ;  and 
it  is  safer  to  do  our  duty  than  to  neglect  it." 


PROVIDENTIAL    FACTORS   IN    MISSIONS         49 

This  act  made  the  Punjab  the  most  peaceful  and 
prosperous  province  of  India,  and  when  seven 
years  after  the  Sepoy  mutiny  broke  out,  that 
province  did  most  to  save  India  to  the  cause  of 
Britain  and  of  humanity.  After  the  mutiny  was 
quelled  missions  spread  with  new  rapidity  to  all 
parts. 

5.  It  was  exactly  so  also  in  respect  to  the  late 
Boxer  uprising  in  China.  God  provided  among 
the  Chinese  themselves  viceroys  like  Chang  Chi 
Tung,  and  Tuan  Fong,  and  Yuan  Shi  Kai,  who 
helped  to  checkmate  the  game.  The  tide  so 
turned  that  instead  of  all  the  foreigners  being  cast 
into  the  sea,  China  has  made  more  progress  in 
the  past  ten  years  than  in  the  previous  ten  cen- 
turies. Thus  God  makes  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  him  and  the  remainder  he  restrains. 


LECTURE  III 

THE  DIVINE  CONTINUITY  OF  THE 
MISSIONARY  PASSION 


LECTURE  III 

FROM  what  was  said  in  our  first  lecture  with 
respect  to  the  timeless  basis  of  missions  in 
God's  own  being,  we  are  prepared  to  believe  that 
in  so  far  as  the  redeeming  spirit  of  God  recreates 
itself  in  us,  what  can  be  described  only  as  the 
missionary  passion,  will  characterize  us.  It  is  this 
that  lends  divine  dignity  to  everything  connected 
with  missions.  This  passion  springs  out  of  the 
depths  of  the  divine  nature  which  yearns  to  save 
and  bless  the  world.  It  is,  of  course,  a  fruit  of  the 
Spirit.  The  fact  that  it  does  not  exist  with  much 
strength  in  some  Christians  is  simply  a  sign  that 
the  natural  man  in  the  main  dominates,  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  but  little  control  of  the  person- 
ality. There  are  two  current  sayings  which  indi- 
cate the  dearth  of  this  passion,  or  the  misunder- 
standing of  it :  First,  "  The  church  is  only  playing 
at  missions."  Confessedly  this  is  the  fact;  and 
it  will  continue  to  be  true  so  long  as  the  heathen 
maxim  still  obtains,  '*  Heathen  enough  at  home  " ; 
so  long  as  half  the  churches  contribute  nothing  for 

53 


54  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

either  home  or  foreign  missions;  and  so  long  as 
many  of  the  ministers  do  not  preach  on  missions 
more  than  once  a  year,  if  they  do  even  that.  To 
play  at  missions  simply  means  that  the  church  has 
not  taken  its  own  religion  seriously;  that  its  own 
type  of  Christianity  is  not  felt  to  be  worth  propa- 
gating. The  pressing  question  brought  home  to 
the  student  body  in  the  late  convention  at  Roch- 
ester, by  Mr.  Sherwood  Eddy,  of  India,  was  this : 
not,  ''  Is  Christianity  per  se  worth  propagating?  " 
but,  ''Is  your  Christianity  worth  propagating?" 
Nevertheless,  the  passion  to  communicate  the 
grace  which  has  been  experienced  by  the  Christian 
soul  does  persist.  The  life  of  the  ascended  Lord 
has  continued  itself  in  his  real  followers  right  on 
through  the  darkest  of  periods. 

Take  for  example  such  a  character  as  Columba. 
This  Columba  in  Ireland,  in  the  sixth  century,  be- 
came fired  with  a  desire  to  reach  the  wild  Scots 
across  the  broad  straits  from  North  Ireland.  So, 
taking  twelve  companions  with  him,  he  embarked 
in  a  little  boat  called  a  "  coracle,"  consisting  of 
hides  stretched  over  a  wicker  frame,  and  sailed 
away  to  the  little  island  of  lona,  an  island  only 
three  miles  long,  opposite  the  county  of  Mull  on 
the  western  coast  of  Scotland.    He  there  planted 


THE   DIVINE    CONTINUITY  55 

his  simple  little  monastery  or  mission  house,  built 
of  reeds  and  mud.  There  he  trained  his  com- 
panions and  first  converts,  and  sent  them  out 
among  the  rude  barbaric  Scots.  Nor  did  he  lay 
down  his  task  until  he  had  laid  the  foundations 
for  the  remarkable  Culdee  Church — a  church 
which  antedates  by  long  the  later  Romanism  and 
even  Protestantism  of  North  Britain. 

At  the  ancient  city  of  St.  Andrews,  afterward  a 
center  of  terrific  persecutions,  may  be  seen  to  this 
day  the  foundation  of  one  of  the  ancient  sanctua- 
ries, built  in  the  shape  of  a  Culdee  cross,  consist- 
ing of  two  transverse  arms  with  a  circle  around 
the  intersection.  A  visitor  to  the  old  churchyard  of 
Stirling,  Scotland,  who  may  desire,  as  I  did  when 
last  there,  to  look  up  the  grave  of  the  brilliant  and 
lamented  Henry  Drummond,  will  find  the  head- 
stone of  the  grave  to  be  a  red  granite  Culdee 
cross  of  noble  proportions,  while  the  gifted  evan- 
gelist-scientist sleeps  beneath  the  bed  of  bright 
green  ivy.  The  pride  of  Scotland  rooted  in  its 
most  ancient  religious  traditions,  glories  still  to 
preserve  the  symbol  of  Columba's  passion  for  her 
salvation.  That  was  a  time  in  which  Columba,  at 
least,  and  his  associates  who  Christianized  the 
pagan  North  Britain  of  that  time,  did  not  ''  play  " 


56  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

at  missions.  Was  there  anything  about  it  not  re- 
producible in  any  time,  if  only  the  spirit  of  the 
apostolic  church  which  made  the  history  of  the 
Acts  should  revive  and  truly  live  again? 

The  life  of  such  a  one  as  Alexander  Mackay, 
of  Uganda,  who  next  to  Livingstone,  Stanley  so 
greatly  admired ;  or  of  James  Chalmers,  of  New 
Guinea,  who  said  toward  the  end  of  his  career, 
reckoning  with  all  that  he  had  had  to  face  in  his 
heathen  field,  he  would  gladly  go  through  it  all 
again  rather  than  to  give  his  life  to  any  other 
service  in  the  world ;  and  yet  Chalmers  was  killed 
and  eaten  by  cannibals.  This,  however,  to  him 
was  by  no  means  a  very  appalling  fate,  any  more 
than  it  was  in  the  estimation  of  Paton,  who,  when 
one  would  dissuade  him  from  his  work  warned 
him  of  such  a  fate,  saying,  "  But  you  may  yet 
be  eaten  by  those  cannibals,"  calmly  replied: 
''  But  you  who  stay  at  home  will  certainly  be 
eaten  of  worms."  Nor  are  such  devotees  to  a 
moral  purpose  all  on  heathen  fields.  Neither  are 
such  characters  as  Booker  Washington,  in  Tuske- 
gee;  or  Miss  Joanna  P.  Moore,  who  has  been 
nearly  fifty  years  so  given  up  to  the  poor  blacks 
of  the  South ;  or  H.  R.  Moseley,  of  Cuba,  any  less 
under  the  passion  of  their  high  calling. 


THE   DIVINE    CONTINUITY  57 

Another  most  misleading  maxim  upon  the 
tongues  of  men,  is  that  "  the  age  of  romance  in 
missions  is  over."  This  expression  indicates  a 
sad  confusion  of  things  that  mightily  differ. 
Romance  implies  something  sentimental — the  love 
of  adventure,  activity  for  the  sake  of  excitement 
of  natural  propensities,  something  humanistic 
and  always  of  the  flesh.  To  assume  that  the  mis- 
sionaries of  any  past  time  were  incited  to  their 
work,  or  sustained  in  it  by  considerations  or  ex- 
hilarations of  this  sort,  is  grossly  to  misunder- 
stand them.  Was  it  a  romantic  thing  for  Carey, 
amid  the  opposition  of  his  time,  to  break  away 
from  England  and  make  his  beginning  in  India 
under  a  Danish  flag,  in  Serampore,  when  that  of 
his  own  country  was  not  permitted  to  float  over 
him?  Was  it  romance  that  stimulated  him  to 
master  thirty-six  different  languages,  and  trans- 
late portions  of  the  Bible  into  them  ?  Was  it  love 
of  adventure  that  prompted  Adoniram  Judson, 
amid  the  scorn  of  the  press,  even  in  old  Massachu- 
setts, to  take  his  accomplished  wife  and  sail  away 
to  India  with  an  almost  certain  prospect  that  he 
would  be  immediately  sent  away  by  the  British 
government?  Was  it  romance  which  held  him  to 
his  task  even  when  thrown  into  a  foul  Burman 


58  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

prison,  loaded  with  irons  and  strung  up  by  the 
feet  for  hours  at  a  time  to  a  bamboo  pole  in  his 
prison  pen,  and  later  to  be  marched  away  to  a  lot 
still  more  cruel  in  Aung-Binleh,  followed  by  his 
wife,  with  an  infant  in  her  arms,  on  foot,  over  a 
desert  marked  by  her  husband's  bleeding  feet; 
then  to  be  housed  in  a  rice  shed,  her  infant  pros- 
trated with  smallpox,  while  for  the  greater  part 
of  two  years  Christendom  knew  not  whether  these 
followers  of  Christ  were  dead  or  alive?  Or  was 
it  romance  in  Mrs.  Judson,  during  two  periods  of 
service  in  Burma,  which  led  her  loyally  to  share 
the  horrors  of  her  husband's  experiences?  Was 
the  going  of  Moffat  to  the  Hottentots  and 
Bechuanas  of  South  Africa,  of  Williams  to  the 
cannibals  of  Eromanga,  animated  by  a  desire  to 
escape  from  the  tame  and  to  exploit  the  exciting 
and  the  wild?  Surely  there  was  time  for  such 
disillusionment  to  occur  and  for  sanity  to  assert 
itself  before  they  became  octogenarians,  as  Mof- 
fat lived  to  be?  Rather  than  believe  that  these 
apostolic  souls  were  kept  up  by  the  love  of  ad- 
venture, I  would  conclude  that  they  were  stark 
mad.  Nay,  I  could  as  easily  believe  that  the 
immortal  Son  of  God  came  to  Golgotha  for  the 
mere  excitement  of  the  thing. 


THE   DIVINE    CONTINUITY  59 

Nay,  in  the  case  of  the  Christ  himself,  and  of 
all  these  his  followers,  they  were  sustained  by  the 
eternal  Spirit.  This  living  witness  of  the  Spirit 
is  a  matter  which  should  never  for  one  moment  be 
confused  with  mere  romancing,  nor  with  the  hero- 
ism of  the  natural  man.  These  missionaries  of 
the  cross  undertook  their  modern  miracle  of  carry- 
ing a  better  thing  to  the  devotees  of  the  heathen 
systems,  only  as  they  were  upheld  by  the  divine 
Spirit  of  the  gospel.  The  real  achievements  of 
Stanley  in  Africa  were  stimulated  by  the  discovery, 
in  Livingstone,  that  the  moral  mystery  which  held 
him  to  this  divine  task  was  so  ineffably  divine  as 
to  shame  his  own  mere  heroics  into  insignificance. 
That  divine  elevation  of  feeling  which  character- 
izes Christian  missionaries  is  an  immediate  di- 
vine creation  in  the  soul,  dependent  on  self-cruci- 
fixion, the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  in  the  Great 
Commission,  ''  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always." 

Among  the  most  impressive  personages  I  ever 
met,  en  route  to  my  second  visit  to  China,  was  the 
late  Hiram  Bingham.  Bingham  was  in  Honolulu 
with  a  native  Gilbertese,  finishing  up  some  literary 
work  for  the  Gilbert  Island  Christians,  among 
whom  he  had  lived  for  fifty  years.  He  once  wrote 
descriptive  of  his  isolation  in  the  islands,  ''  I  have 


60  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

lived  much  alone,  sometimes  eighteen  months 
without  a  solitary  letter  from  the  home  land,  but 
I  have  never  been  lonely."  But  even  this  was 
surpassed  by  Livingstone.  On  one  occasion  he 
found  himself  at  Loanda,  on  the  west  coast,  hav- 
ing traveled  for  months  to  reach  it,  hoping  to  get 
letters  from  home.  An  English  vessel  lay  in  the 
harbor,  but  no  letters  for  Livingstone.  The  cap- 
tain begged  him  to  take  passage  with  him  back  to 
England.  He  reflected  on  it,  but  declined,  conclu- 
ding that  good  faith  to  a  heathen  chief,  away  to 
the  eastward,  who  had  favored  him  with  native  at- 
tendants, required  him  to  fulfil  his  promise  and 
see  those  natives  safely  home  again.  Accordingly, 
he  plunged  into  the  wilderness  and  made  the  jour- 
ney back  to  the  country  of  the  chief  and  to  Quili- 
mane  on  the  east  coast,  a  journey  of  two  years. 
What  an  amazing  passion  in  the  interests  of  duty, 
and  what  divine  sustaining  power! 

Is  an  experience  like  that  the  result  of  a  mere 
sentimental  errand?  Is  that  romance?  If  so, 
God  grant  it  may  come  again  to  earth  and 
never  depart.  The  divine  glow  which  attends  an 
experience  of  the  surrendered  life — the  aureole 
that  lights  up  the  face  of  the  saint  at  this  summit 
of  his  life,  is  Christianity's  best  attestation.     It 


THE  DIVINE   CONTINUITY  6l 

Is  akin  to  that  which  made  radiant  the  face  of 
Stephen ;  it  corresponds  to  "  the  form  of  the 
fourth,"  that  lived  in  the  very  heat  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's furnace,  and  to  the  burning  bush  which 
Moses  saw,  ever  flaming  and  yet  not  consumed, 
before  which  he  took  the  shoes  from  off  his  feet. 

I  once  heard  at  Northfield  the  following  story 
from  the  lips  of  Mrs.  Crosby  H.  Wheeler,  who 
with  her  husband  devoted  years  of  service  to  the 
school  work  of  the  American  Board  in  Harpoot, 
Turkey.  At  a  certain  juncture  in  the  course  of 
the  dreadful  persecution  of  Armenian  Christians 
of  several  years  ago,  under  the  tyrannical  Sultan 
Abdul  Hamid,  a  marauding  army  was  gathered 
about  the  large  girls'  school  in  Harpoot.  They 
came  intending  to  burn  the  great  school  building, 
but  before  proceeding  they  sent  a  peremptory  de- 
mand that  the  young  women  of  the  school  should 
be  turned  over  to  them  for  purposes  well  under- 
stood, and  quite  in  keeping  with  the  nefarious  cus- 
toms which  helped  to  make  up  the  atrocities  pre- 
ceding the  Armenian  massacres.  The  mission- 
aries, however,  had  firmly  resolved  to  refuse  com- 
pliance with  the  brutal  demand.  They  were  all 
gathered  into  one  building,  giving  themselves  up 
to  prayer,  purposing  if  the  building  was  fired  that 


62  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

they  would  all  perish  together  as  one  martyr  band. 
Said  Mrs.  Wheeler,  "  We  expected  nothing  but  a 
holocaust,  but  we  were  prepared  for  it.  All  lips 
were  firm.  Our  hearts  were  calm,  not  a  tear  shed, 
while  in  prayer  together  we  awaited  the  firing  of 
the  building  that  would  consume  us  all.  After  a 
time,  however,  for  some  unaccountable  reason,  the 
Turkish  ofiicers  parleyed  and  gave  order  to  re- 
tire, so  these  thousands  of  soldiers  marched  away, 
leaving  the  missionaries  and  their  wards  un- 
harmed." But  this  is  the  point  of  Mrs.  Wheel- 
er's testimony.  Said  she,  "  We  were  in  that  fear- 
ful crisis  so  given  up  to  God  in  our  expected 
martyrdom,  that  when  we  found  it  was  not  to  be 
many  of  us  were  absolutely  disappointed.  Then 
the  strain  being  over,  having  come  back  to  earth 
again  from  the  vestibule  of  glory,  we  fell  upon 
each  others'  necks  and  wept  aloud.  We  all  wept 
as  we  also  did  when  we  heard  of  our  Christian 
brothers  and  sisters  who  in  other  places  had  been 
outraged  and  martyred.  We  wept  for  them,  but 
our  tears  were  not  the  tears  of  human  cowardice, 
but  of  sympathy  with  our  brethren."  Such  is  the 
peculiar  elevation  of  which  the  human  spirit  is 
capable  when  enabled  by  the  grace  of  God.  This 
form  of  experience  is  the  most  precious  thing  in 


THE   DIVINE   CONTINUITY  63 

the  Christian  reHgion.  It  is  the  spiritual  resurrec- 
tion, correlative  to  all  self-dying  as  symbolized 
by  the  glory  which  fell  upon  Jesus  after  his  bap- 
tism, and  as  wrapt  him  in  the  splendors  of  the 
transfiguration.  Why  should  not  missionaries 
understand  this  better  than  all  others;  for,  in 
order  to  be  missionaries  at  all  they  must  become 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  resurrection;  their  er- 
rand is  preeminently  the  resurrection  errand.  And 
the  distance  between  mere  romance  and  the  resur- 
rection principle,  realized  in  the  soul,  is  simply 
measureless.  We  thus  see  the  deep  basis  in  his- 
toric and  experiential  Christianity  for  the  mission- 
ary passion. 

But  now,  what  is  the  natural  history  of  this 
passion  ?  How  is  it  engendered,  and  on  what  does 
it  thrive  ? 

I.  At  the  very  root  of  this  passion  in  the  soul 
is  the  principle  of  self-effacement.  Yet  this  self- 
effacement  is  not  to  be  sought  as  an  end  in  itself ; 
that  would  be  asceticism ;  it  would  be  morbid,  and 
would  breed  fanaticism.  Says  George  Eliot: 
"  Don't  let  your  candle  be  melted  down  for  tal- 
low; learn  how  to  find  yourself."  The  candle 
finds  itself  in  the  light  attained  and  shed  forth. 

Buddhism  has  the  half-truth  of  self-renuncia- 


64  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

tion,  but  it  is  not  a  legitimate  renunciation,  one 
with  a  sufficiently  worthy  and  personal  object.  It 
is  at  this  point  that  Christianity  infinitely  surpasses 
Buddhism,  for  Christ  himself  becomes  the  master 
of  the  soul,  for  whose  worthy  sake  we  renounce ; 
and  then  in  his  resurrection  life  and  power  we  find 
ourselves.  There  is  thus  a  transcendence  of  the 
natural  through  moral  crisis,  which  is  always  a 
matter  of  dying  in  one  form  of  life  in  order  to 
live  in  another  and  higher  form.  This  is  possible 
only  as  the  soul  comes  to  a  surrender  of  its  self- 
life — its  life  of  impulse — and  accepts  in  its  stead 
the  divinely  begotten  life  of  a  higher  realm. 

2.  There  ensues  from  this  self-effacement  a  new 
vision  of  the  Lord  of  glory  akin  to  that  which 
Stephen  saw  when  he  fell  fainting  under  the  mis- 
siles thrown  by  his  persecuting  countrymen. 
Doubtless  it  could  be  shown,  if  the  testimony  could 
be  gathered,  that  in  the  great  crises  through  which 
most  real  missionaries  have  been  brought  to 
qualify  for  their  tasks,  in  one  form  or  another, 
Jesus  Christ  has  become  unveiled  to  them  afresh, 
and  his  presence  before  their  face  has  been  their 
unfailing  inspiration. 

3.  With  this  there  is  further  born  in  the  soul  a 
foreview  of  the  likeness  of  Christ  as  possible  also 


THE   DIVINE    CONTINUITY  65 

for  all  those  of  every  race  who  shall  believe  on 
him.  The  missionary  thus  becomes  the  true  cos- 
mopolitan. 

It  is  the  result  of  the  anointed  vision.  In  all  our 
thought  about  souls  whose  salvation  we  seek,  two 
pictures  ought  always  to  be  before  us:  one,  the 
face  of  one's  natural  birth ;  the  other,  the  face  of 
the  new,  supernatural  birth. 

A  few  years  since,  one  of  our  missionaries,  a 
young  woman  from  Minnesota,  was  about  land- 
ing from  the  ship  that  bore  her  to  India,  off 
Madras.  There  are  no  docks  there,  but  steamers 
are  obliged  to  anchor  a  mile  or  two  out  from 
shore,  while  little  "  sampans,"  rowed  by  the  dark- 
skinned  Madrassi  oarsmen,  go  out  to  the  ship  and 
take  off  the  passengers.  As  this  girl  stood  on  the 
deck  watching  the  approach  of  one  of  these  boats, 
she  was  horrified  at  the  thought  of  descending 
the  ship's  ladder  and  being  seated  among  these 
black  men,  scantily  clad,  their  lips  reeking  red 
with  the  juice  of  the  betel-nut,  reminding  one  of 
so  many  cutthroats.  After  some  moments  of 
prayer,  however,  she  said  to  herself,  "  I  think  I 
can  go  now,"  and  she  descended  into  one  of  these 
boats  and  took  her  place  while  the  oarsmen  began 
to  pull  for  the  shore.     She  began  wondering  if 


66  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

all  the  Hindus  were  like  these;  if  even  the  gospel 
changed  them  much.  Shortly  the  boat  approached 
the  shore  thronged  with  natives.  In  a  few  mo- 
ments she  observed  a  man  in  pure  white  garments, 
with  a  white  turban  on  his  head,  elbowing  his 
way  down  to  the  boat  which  had  been  drawn  up 
on  the  sand.  *'  There,"  said  the  missionary  as  she 
spied  him,  ''  I  believe  that  man  is  a  Christian.  He 
might  even  be  Rungiah — a  Telugu  preacher  of 
whom  she  had  heard  much,  and  who  had  been 
supported  by  her  home  Sunday-school.  Presently, 
the  cleanly,  beaming  Telugu  was  by  her  side,  and 

in  good  English,  said,  "  Miss  M ,  I  presume. 

We  have  been  waiting  for  your  coming,  and  I 
have  come  with  a  cab  to  take  you  up  to  the  mission 
house.  And  may  God  give  you  grace  for  what 
you  have  to  meet  in  India."  This  sister,  on  her 
furlough,  delighted  to  refer  to  how  this  Telugu 
Christian  was  wont  often  to  conclude  his  testi- 
monies in  the  meetings  of  the  native  church,  "  Oh, 
friends,  I  cannot  tell  it;  I  cannot  tell  it.  I  have 
simply  been  redeemed,  redeemed,  redeemed.  IVe 
BEEN  redeemed.'^  It  is  not  the  heathen  Telugu, 
the  vile,  unclean  pagan  that  Rungiah  once  was, 
that  as  such  is  to  be  loved;  but  the  redeemed, 
cleansed,  radiant  Telugu,  the  man  potential  in  the 


THE   DIVINE    CONTINUITY  67 

former  one.  It  is  he  for  whom  the  missionary 
waits,  and  works,  and  prays,  and  in  whose  trans- 
formation he  glories. 

4.  There  follows  next  a  vision  of  the  victorious 
might  of  Christ  to  overcome  the  power  satanic 
which  oppresses  and  would  curse  forever  the 
heathen  unsaved.  For  a  good  instance  of  this, 
let  me  refer  you  to  the  story  of  Pastor  Hsi  as  told 
by  Mrs.  Howard  Taylor.  This  man  Hsi  was  one 
of  China's  scholars  in  the  province  of  Shensi, 
and  a  man  of  great  influence.  But  he  was  m.or- 
tally  afraid  of  the  foreigner.  He  shared  the  prej- 
udice of  his  people,  that  the  eye  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary if  it  once  caught  the  glance  of  the  China- 
man and  looked  straight  into  the  soul  through 
it,  had  power  to  bewitch  him.  The  day  came, 
however,  when  the  saintly  and  now  sainted  David 
Hill,  of  the  English  Wesleyan  Mission,  met  this 
man  Hsi  and  won  his  confidence.  Sure  enough, 
he  one  day  caught  this  man's  eye,  and  the  Chinese 
scholar  for  the  first  time  felt  that  he  had  met  a 
man  divine — not  one  to  hypnotize  and  bewitch 
him,  but  one  who  by  the  grace  of  Christ  could  ex- 
orcise the  devil  in  him  and  deliver  him  even  from 
the  accursed  opium  vice.  The  result  was  that  this 
man  Hsi,  himself  delivered,  became  not  only  an 


68  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

apostolic  native  preacher,  but,  at  his  own  charges 
and  with  funds  gathered  from  the  natives,  estab- 
hshed  scores  of  opium  refuges  and  reclaimed  num- 
bers of  his  countrymen.  Thus  effective  is  the  mis- 
sionary passion  when  it  comes  to  the  kingdom 
for  such  a  time  as  that.  Moreover,  it  is  encourag- 
ing to  note  the  way  of  the  risen  Lord  to  kindle 
and  rekindle  from  generation  to  generation,  and 
keep  alive  this  passion  as  was  the  case  even  in 
medieval  times.  It  so  wrought  in  Patrick  of  Ire- 
land in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries;  in  Boni- 
face or  Winfrid,  the  apostle  from  England  to  Ger- 
many, in  the  seventh  century ;  in  Benedict  of  Nur- 
sia,  whose  influence  founded  literally  thousands 
of  monasteries  or  Christian  seminaries  for  the 
nurture  of  missions,  as  he  understood  them,  in  the 
eighth  century ;  in  Xavier,  apostle  to  India,  Japan, 
and  the  coasts  of  China  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
All  these  were  aflame  with  evangelistic  zeal,  and 
none  of  them,  if  we  may  perhaps  except  Xavier, 
were  papist  in  the  present-day  sense ;  all  the  fore- 
runners of  Carey,  from  Zinzendorf  to  Schwartz, 
were  flaming  apostles  of  this  mighty  passion. 

And  how  this  passion  holds  men  to  their  task, 
even  when  disabled  by  sickness,  till  they  are 
called  home  by  death! 


THE   DIVINE    CONTINUITY  69 

I  know  a  missionary  in  West  China  who  is  on 
his  third  period  of  service.  He,  with  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  other  missionaries,  was  driven  out 
of  the  western  province  of  Sze-chuen,  in  an  anti- 
foreign  uprising,  a  dozen  years  ago.  He  returned 
to  his  post  after  that,  and  soon  came  home  for  a 
critical  surgical  operation,  and  returned  again  to 
that  far  western  region.  He  came  home  a  third 
time  for  a  prospective  third  surgical  operation, 
and  about  a  year  ago  back  he  went  to  his  original 
post,  with  wife  and  child,  in  the  face  even  of  pro- 
test of  some  who  had  misgivings  respecting  his 
physical  condition. 

At  the  time  referred  to,  when  so  many  mission- 
aries were  driven  down  the  river,  pursued  in  boats 
by  crowds  of  Boxers,  this  man  was  treasurer  of 
the  mission  of  our  Boston  society.  He  would  not 
leave  his  post  until  he  was  sure  that  every  mis- 
sionary dependent  on  him  for  needed  funds  had 
been  supplied  and  gone  down  the  river.  Then 
he  himself  engaged  a  native  house-boat  and  fol- 
lowed on.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  until  he  was 
overtaken  by  fierce,  excited  natives,  who  boarded 
his  boat  and  came  at  him  with  spears.  He  finally 
dropped  into  the  river,  hiding  for  a  few  moments 
at  a  time  by  diving  under  the  boat  and  coming 


yO  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Up  at  intervals  for  air,  at  some  new  point  under 
the  edge  of  the  boat.  ^Meanwhile  tliese  Chinese 
bandits  were  thrusting  their  spears  down  into  the 
water  first  on  one  side  of  the  boat  and  then  on  the 
other,  hoping  to  reach  and  finish  him.  Finally, 
when  he  could  no  longer  hide,  he  struck  out  for 
the  shore  of  the  river  and  the  Boxers  followed 
hard  after  him.  Arrived  on  the  shore  he  was  soon 
surrounded,  but  he  calmly  stood,  undismayed,  and 
faced  them,  until  all  at  once  one  of  the  leaders 
said :  '*'  Oh,  he's  a  good  man,  let  him  go."  He 
regained  his  boat  and  proceeded  down  the  river 
in  safety.  Once  after  he  had  spoken  of  this  ex- 
perience to  a  home  audience,  a  friend  quizzed  him 

thus :  '*'  Brother  B ,  what  particular  text  of 

Scripture  came  to  you  while  you  were  down  there 
under  that  boat  holding  your  breath  expecting 
instant  death?"  The  quiet  man  replied:  ''Oh. 
there  was  something  better  than  that;  the  Lord 
Jesus  himself  was  there."  Therein,  again,  is  re- 
vealed the  secret  of  the  fascination  which  fills  the 
soul  with  a  passion  divine,  and  holds  the  mission- 
ary apostle  to  his  task.  It  is  peculiarly  of  God, 
and  has  no  second. 


LECTURE  IV 

THE  LAXGUAGE-ELEMEXT  IX  THE 
COSMIC  PLAX 


LECTURE  IV 

BY  this  title  I  have  in  mind  the  plan  of  the 
whole  in  our  economy,  as  redemptive,  under 
which,  as  the  unifying  principle,  the  thought 
throughout  these  lectures  is  grouped. 

Still  keeping  in  mind  that  missions  are  organic 
to  Christianity,  we  come  to  the  place  of  language 
as  a  medium  through  which  things  are  done  both 
on  the  part  of  God  and  man.  Accordingly,  the 
place  of  language  in  the  ongoing  of  the  kingdom 
is  a  very  important  one.  It  is  so  not  merely  be- 
cause it  is  the  medium  of  communication,  but  also 
because  of  the  disciplinary  values  that  are  asso- 
ciated with  its  acquisition  and  use  in  such  a  multi- 
tude of  forms. 

I  first  remark  upon  the  marvel  of  the  gift  of 
language  as  a  psychological  phenomenon.  For  a 
full  statement  of  the  principles  connected  with  this 
subject,  I  refer  you  to  a  remarkable  book  pub- 
lished about  three  years  since,  entitled  '*  Brain  and 
Personality,"  by  Dr.  William  Hanna  Thompson, 
of  New  York,  who  is  one  of  the  foremost  authori- 

73 


74  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

ties  on  brain  mechanism  and  function,  as  against 
the  materiahstic  view  that  thought  is  a  mere  prod- 
uct of  brain  secretion.  To  begin  with,  we  are 
to  observe  that  the  only  created  being  who  has 
power  of  abstraction  and  reasoning,  and  can  use 
speech  to  express  it,  is  man.  The  gift  of  speech 
is  not  congenital,  as  hearing  and  sight  are,  but  is 
acquired  by  the  human  soul's  own  personal  ac- 
tivity through  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  its 
life.  The  amazing  fact  is,  that  the  infant  through 
its  own  soul  activity  modifies  its  own  brain  anat- 
omy, after  the  brain  has  been  created.  How  do 
we  know  this  ?  I  answer,  by  a  long  line  of  experi- 
mentation, carried  on  not  by  theologians  or  even 
metaphysicians,  but  by  physiologists,  surgeons, 
and  doctors,  who,  having  registered,  step  by  step, 
the  stages  in  their  scientific  progress  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  brain  mechanism  and  its  functions 
and  disorders,  have  attained  to  certain  results. 
Most  of  the  discoveries  are  so  recent  that  they  are 
scantily  known  even  by  professional  men  not 
specialists  in  the  study  of  the  brain. 

The  principal  starting-point  in  the  line  of  things 
just  mentioned  was  with  the  famous  French  sur- 
geon, Broca  by  name.  It  was  he  who  discovered 
that  a  particular  convolution  of  the  gray  matter 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  75 

of  the  brain,  located  back  of  and  above  the  eye,  not 
larger  than  a  hazel-nut,  is  the  physical  seat  for 
all  the  word-registering  and  word-making  power 
that  a  human  being  has.  Of  course  this  convolu- 
tion is  only  one  of  something  like  thirty  others, 
which  have  been  located  in  the  brain  matter 
for  other  functions,  e.  g.,  for  sight,  hearing,  etc. 
But  this  one  convolution  that  has  the  word  func- 
tion or  power,  is  called  after  its  discoverer 
"  Broca's  convolution."  It  has  longer  been  known 
that,  whereas,  every  human  brain  is  composed  of 
two  lobes  exactly  alike,  in  fact,  only  one  of  these 
lobes  is  used  for  the  purposes  of  our  life.  The 
other  one  seems  to  be  held  in  reserve  as  an  instru- 
ment that  can  be  put  to  use  if  the  other  breaks 
down,  provided  it  is  not  too  late  in  life. 

Now,  here  is  the  astonishing  fact  that  the  lobe, 
be  it  right  or  left,  which  is  used  for  speech  is  al- 
ways determined  by  the  hand  most  used  in  in- 
fancy. The  infant  begins  to  express  itself  by  the 
movement  of  its  hands;  that  is  its  power  for  ex- 
pression prior  to  its  acquisition  of  the  power  to 
speak  its  thoughts.  If  the  right  hand  is  most  used, 
then  the  Broca  convolution  which  begins  to  come 
under  training  by  the  child  is  in  the  left  lobe  of 
the  brain,  but  if  the  child  is  left-handed,  we  may 


76  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

be  certain  that  it  is  educating  the  convolution  in 
the  right  lobe  of  the  brain ;  i.  e.,  the  infant  deter- 
mines by  its  own  thought-power  what  part  of  its 
brain  anatomy  or  mechanism,  for  the  understand- 
ing and  speaking  of  words,  shall  be  modified  and 
disciplined.  In  other  words,  the  thought  of  the 
soul  is  prior  to  modification  of  the  material  of 
the  brain,  and  it  is  to-day  one  of  the  surest  proofs 
that  man  is  primarily  a  spiritual  being  rather 
than  a  creature  of  mechanism,  according  to  the 
deterministic  philosophy.  Thus  far,  at  least,  there" 
is  no  explanation,  except  that  man  was  so  made 
by  his  Creator,  that  his  soul  and  not  the  mere 
machinery  of  his  wonderful  brain  shall  govern. 
Great  scientists  have  long  recognized  the  dis- 
tinctive dignity  of  man  as  a  thought-originating 
animal.  Even  Huxley  says  that  this  mark  which 
distinguishes  him  as  far  removed  from  the  mere 
animal — even  of  the  most  highly  organized  an- 
thropoid ape — is  Andes-high  above  all  other  crea- 
tions; and  Doctor  Thompson  has  put  a  modern 
emphasis,  not  previously  known,  upon  that  by  his 
remarkable  work  that  every  Christian  teacher  and 
even  philanthropist  ought  to  know.  It  is  the  gift 
of  speech  that  has  elevated  man,  reverently 
viewed,  almost  to  the  height  of  deity. 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  J  J 

I  pass  on  to  note,  in  the  second  place,  the  great 
diversity  of  tongues  now  existing  among  men, 
the  structure  of  each  of  which  is  based  on  a  unique 
psychology.  Many  of  these  are  associated  almost 
organically  with  the  rise  of  great  nations.  For 
example,  the  Hebrew,  the  Chaldee,  the  Phoenician, 
the  Syriac,  the  Egyptian,  the  Arabic,  the  Latin, 
Greek,  Germanic,  Slavonic,  and  Romance  tongues, 
the  Chinese,  Japanese,  the  Hindi,  Persian,  Afri- 
can, English,  and  manifold  unwritten  languages 
in  Polynesia  and  elsewhere. 

How  came  the  diversity  ?  While  the  Bible  does 
not  give  the  philosophy  of  the  matter,  and  phi- 
lology is  self-conflicting  in  its  results,  yet  the 
Bible  affords  more  light  on  the  subject  than  all 
other  sources  combined.  The  account  embraces 
the  following  elements : 

1.  The  original  account  of  the  naming  of  the 
animal  creation  by  the  first  man  of  Eden,  corrobo- 
rates the  deep  psychological  fact  above  referred  to 
as  to  speech  being  the  mark  of  God's  supreme 
creation.  When  Adam  named  the  animals  he 
characterized  them.  He  thought  and  spoke  re- 
specting their  qualities  and  characteristics. 

2.  The  historic  confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel, 
probably  marking  the  loss  of  the  original  Ian- 


yS  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

guage.  This  was  catastrophic  in  character.  The 
tongues  left  them  were  not  necessarily  many,  but 
enough  to  enforce  segregation,  and  with  it  tribal 
distribution  of  the  human  seed  abroad  over  the 
earth. 

3.  The  prevention  of  the  wilful  purpose  of  man 
from  circumventing  the  providential  purpose  to 
people  the  earth  in  diversified  and  complex  ways, 
and  in  all  parts. 

4.  Probably  the  pagan  device  was  worked  up 
by  some  foremost  personality,  perhaps  Nimrod, 
the  cunning  designer,  the  satanic  plotter,  and  so 
the  mighty  spoiler  rather  than,  as  the  Common 
version  reads,  "  The  mighty  hunter."  The  temple 
of  Belus,  or  Birs-Nimrod,  of  historic  fame,  is 
probably  to  be  closely  associated  with  Babel,  if 
not  identical  with  it 

5.  The  tower  was  an  archetype  of  those  re- 
ligious symbols  whose  devotees  always  sought  out 
the  high  places.  Ararat  was  a  mount  of  salva- 
tion after  the  deluge,  Moriah  to  Abraham,  and 
Mount  Zion  to  David.  So  the  ceremonialism  of 
the  pagan  who  seeks  to  counterfeit  true  religion, 
glorifies  and  deifies  high  places  in  lieu  of  the  most 
high  God.  We  see  instances  of  it  in  the  Homeric 
Olympus,  the  Capitolium  of  Rome,  the  Parthe- 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  79 

noil  at  Athens,  and  in  the  myriad  pagodas  of  the 
far  East.  From  one  hilltop  near  Pagau,  Burma, 
you  may  count  nine  thousand  of  these  pagodas  in 
full  sight.  In  one  enclosure  in  Mandalay,  a  city 
filled  with  monasteries  and  idol  shrines,  there  are 
more  than  ten  thousand  pagodas,  within  which 
are  marble  slabs  containing  the  complete  text  of 
leading  Buddhistic  scriptures,  the  chiseled  letters 
being  filled  with  pure  gold  leaf — all  a  work  of 
merit  contributed  to  Buddha  by  one  Burman  king 
of  the  past.  These  shrines  fill  an  area  I  should 
think  of  a  dozen  acres.  Throughout  China,  on  all 
the  historic  hilltops,  these  pagodas  rear  them- 
selves, suggesting  the  horrid  pagan  segis  under 
which  the  whole  empire  lives  its  superstitious  life. 
One  cannot  look  upon  them  without  an  over- 
whelming conviction  that  the  origin  of  them  all 
was  the  Babel  tower  of  Genesis. 

6.  The  confusion  of  tongues  wrought  at  Babel 
was  but  symbolic  of  the  deeper  confusions  of  all 
sorts  which  sin  and  selfishness  work  in  the  various 
relations  of  life.  The  great  students  and  masters 
of  antiquity — like  Sir  William  Drummond  and 
others — corroborate  the  testimony  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  three  very  important  particulars : 

(i)  That  all  the  languages  of  the  earth  are 


8o  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

fairly  reducible  to  three,  viz.,  Sanskrit  or  Indo- 
European,  the  Semitic,  and  the  Tartarian  or  Tu- 
ranian. 

(2)  That  the  several  races  of  mankind  are 
from  three  families,  corresponding  to  the  sons  of 
Noah. 

(3)  That  these  all  arose  in  Iran  or  ancient 
Shinar.  No  historic  facts  of  antiquity  are  better 
attested  than  these. 

I  said  a  few  moments  ago  that  a  close  study  of 
language  or  philology  reveals  a  peculiar  and  dis- 
tinctive psychology,  out  of  which  the  language 
itself  seems  to  have  arisen  in  a  past  golden  age. 
Doctor  Richter,  of  Germany,  now  one  of  the  fore- 
most historic  authorities  on  missions,  and  who 
was  at  the  late  Rochester  convention,  told  several 
of  us,  who  together  met  him,  that  it  has  been  dis- 
covered in  the  light  of  varied  experience  of 
thoughtful  missionaries  on  the  west  coast  of  Af- 
rica, that  the  language  known  as  Bantu  is  the 
parent  stock  of  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  dialects  spoken  by  the  rude,  unlet- 
tered tribes  of  Africa.  Of  these  the  Swahili — in 
which  Doctor  Livingstone  mostly  spoke  when  he 
taught  the  gospel  to  the  barbaric  tribes  among 
which  he  moved — is  one  of  the  principal  sub- 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  8l 

dialects.  A  great  linguistic  genius  in  Hamburg, 
Germany,  Doctor  Meinhof,  has  discovered  and 
worked  out  the  grammatical  or  psychological 
framework  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
dialects  referred  to,  and  he  declares  that  they  have 
at  bottom  the  same  identical  grammatical  struct- 
ure. And  this  discovery  is  of  so  much  practical 
value  that  Lutheran  societies  in  Germany,  con- 
ducting work  in  West  Africa,  now  send  their  mis- 
sionary candidates  to  Doctor  Meinhof  that  they 
may  be  taught  the  principles  of  this  Bantu  family 
of  languages.  These  can  be  learned  in  three  or 
four  months,  and  these  mastered,  any  capable 
missionary  can  learn  any  one  of  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  sub-dialects  in  Africa  in  a  few 
months  more. 

Now  here  is  an  astounding  fact  as  bearing  upon 
the  practicalities  into  which  the  church  is  being 
led,  in  getting  at  the  world  with  the  gospel — in 
bringing  them  back  to  Shinar.  Not  a  native 
animistic  African  exists  who  has  the  remotest 
idea  where  that  remarkable  Bantu  language  origi- 
nated, or  even  of  the  extraordinary  psychological 
framework  that  marks  its  derived  dialects.  Here 
is  a  fact  to  be  pondered  by  those  students  in  com- 
parative religion,  who  are  inclined  to  build  on  the 

F 


82  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

extreme  theory  of  evolution.  Do  facts  like  the 
above  corroborate  the  hypothesis  that  the  animism, 
the  demonology  of  the  superstitious,  unlettered 
pagan  mind,  marks  a  stage  in  the  progress  of  evo- 
lution upward,  or  does  the  rare  psychology  of  the 
Bantu  language  corroborate  the  idea  that  there  was 
a  golden  age  in  the  remote  past  from  which  these 
African  tribes  have  sadly  degenerated,  as  their 
language  has?  They  certainly  have  not  among 
them  now  mental  geniuses  equal  to  the  structure 
of  the  original  tongue  from  which  their  dialects 
came;  and  if  they  had,  how  could  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  different  types  of  speech  so  con- 
struct themselves  as  to  find  a  basic  unity  in  the 
one  Bantu  language?  The  truth  is,  that  the  phi- 
losophy of  language,  or  real  philology,  confirms 
the  Scripture  accounts  as  far  as  it  goes,  and  with- 
out the  Scriptures  we  are  all  at  sea. 

Over  against  Babel,  and  all  it  stands  for  in 
Scripture,  are  set  two  great  facts  of  the  New 
Testament:  First,  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  eternal  Word,  i.  e.,  as  the  divine  reason  and 
expression,  or  speech  of  God's  universe.  Through 
him  all  creation,  providence,  redemption,  and 
revelation  are  mediated.  When  he  is  understood 
he  becomes  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  universe  for 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  83 

our  understanding.  As  Broca's  convolution  is  the 
nerve  center  in  the  brain  in  which  all  word-re- 
ceiving or  word-speaking  power  is  located,  so 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Word  made  flesh,  is  the  throb- 
bing nerve  center  in  the  intelligence  of  the  uni- 
verse where  God  registers  his  thought  and  speaks 
his  truth,  and  through  whom  we,  ourselves,  be- 
come enabled  to  speak  forth  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  his  grace  to  our  fellow-men. 

The  next  great  fact  in  the  New  Testament  is 
that  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pentecost 
was  associated  with  tongues,  first  in  the  tongue  of 
fire,  which  sat  upon  the  head  of  each  person  in 
the  upper  room;  and,  secondly,  in  the  divine  gift 
which  enabled  the  church  on  Its  natal  day  to 
speak  and  hear  in  so  great  diversity  of  tongues. 
Now  this  matter  of  tongues  at  Pentecost  is  of 
immense  significance.  As  to  the  tongue  of  fire, 
it  was  not  a  "  cloven  tongue  "  like  that  of  a  ser- 
pent, but  there  appeared  tongues  *'  distributing 
themselves,"  as  the  rendering  in  the  margin  reads, 
until  it  sat  a  complete  tongue  upon  the  head  of 
every  one — not  on  a  few  ecclesiastics,  a  few  cardi- 
nals or  bishops,  or  even  a  few  apostles.  It  sat 
upon  the  head  of  all — upon  the  head  of  common 
men,  upon  the  head  of  women  as  well  as  men.    It 


84  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

took  its  seat  there  as  in  a  cathedral  chair.  (The 
very  word  translated  sat  is  derived  from  the  same 
root  as  cathedral — a  building  construed  by  the 
hierarchy  of  Rome  and  by  the  Anglican  Church 
as  a  bishop's  seat  or  throne. )  This  implies  much, 
with  respect  to  the  sublime  functions  mission- 
wise,  which  belong  to  every  individual  of  the 
Christian  church,  and  not  merely  to  ministers  or 
high  church  ecclesiastics.  Then  was  not  this 
tongue  of  fire  significant  of  the  work  of  preach- 
ing through  the  living  voice,  which  can  never 
be  supplanted  or  relegated  to  a  second  place  in 
the  church,  and  especially  in  Christian  missions  ? 

And  then,  as  to  the  gift  of  tongues  which  came 
that  day,  was  it  not  prophetic  of  a  peculiar  grace 
for  language  work  in  the  outlying  world  and  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth?  This  grace,  to  my  mind,  in 
the  light  of  the  great  linguistic  achievements 
since,  in  the  history  of  Christian  missions,  and  yet 
persisting,  is  scarcely  less  than  miraculous. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which  this  has  worked 
out:  First,  in  the  giving  of  written  languages  to 
unlettered  peoples.  More  than  one  hundred  such 
languages  have  been  reduced  to  writing  by  Chris- 
tian missionaries  during  the  last  century,  and  a 
goodly  number  of  them  long  before. 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  85 

I  here  mention  two  names  in  very  dark  periods 
of  the  medieval  past  which  I  cannot  think  of 
without  the  most  thrilHng  sensations.  The  first 
is  the  name  of  Ulfilas,  born  early  in  the  fourth 
century.  This  man  was  either  a  native  Goth 
or  a  captive  from  some  region  south  of  the 
Danube,  carried  away  in  his  early  life  among 
the  warlike  and  fierce  dwellers  to  the  northward. 
But  he  was  a  man  of  strong  personality.  Tra- 
dition says  that  at  twenty-four  years  of  age  he 
was  sent  by  King  Alaric,  of  the  Gothic  people, 
to  Constantinople  on  an  important  errand.  The  er- 
rand performed,  he  settled  in  Constantinople  and 
gave  himself  to  the  Greek  language  and  literature. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  he  was  strangely  moved 
to  go  over  again  beyond  the  Danube  and  give  an 
alphabet  he  had  invented  to  the  Gothic  peoples. 
He  reduced  their  language  to  writing,  and  then 
patiently  began  and  wrought  out  a  translation  of 
great  parts  of  the  Christian  Scriptures.  In  short, 
he  gave  the  Bible  to  all  that  portion  of  Southeast- 
ern Europe  and  laid  the  foundation  for  all  the 
Germanic  literature  in  the  world.  In  the  library 
of  the  great  university  of  Sweden,  at  Upsala,  you 
may  see  his  Codex  Argentcens  (or  silver  codex), 
written  with  silver  letters  on  a  purple  parchment, 


86  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

which  is  the  most  important  of  his  translation 
work.  Slowly,  indeed,  did  the  Goths  come  under 
the  power  of  those  Scriptures  in  our  spiritual  un- 
derstanding of  the  term,  but  they  came;  and  tra- 
dition says  that  when  they  swooped  down  upon 
Rome  and  shattered  the  empire,  they  spared  many 
Christian  sanctuaries,  and  out  of  the  broken  Ro- 
man power  emerged  at  length  Protestant  North 
Europe. 

Two  other  remarkable  names  that  go  together 
— for  they  were  brothers — are  the  names  of  Cyril 
and  Methodius,  the  one  a  philosopher  and  the 
other  an  artist,  but  both  fired  with  a  zeal  to 
give  first  written  language  and  then  a  translation 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  the  Slavs.  They  pur- 
sued their  task  until,  first  in  Crimea,  then  in  Bo- 
hemia and  Moravia,  and  in  large  parts  of  what 
is  now  the  Russian  Empire,  they  planted  the  di- 
vine word.  They  may  have  been  actuated  by  mo- 
tives partly  political  and  diplomatic;  for  there 
was  much  of  that  in  the  world  at  that  time,  yet 
nevertheless  they  were  apostles  to  the  whole  Sla- 
vonic race,  and  to  this  day  Cyril's  version  of  the 
Scriptures  is  the  authorized  version  circulated 
throughout  Russia  and  the  Greek  Church.  What 
Jerome's  Vulgate  was  to  the  Latin,  what  Luther's 


IHE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  87 

translation  was  to  the  German,  that  were  the 
Scriptures  of  Ulfilas  given  to  the  Goths,  and  Cy- 
ril's to  the  Slavs.  What  missionary  of  modern 
times,  what  student  in  any  Christian  seminary 
in  the  world  would  not  rejoice  to  have  a  part  in 
such  a  work  for  any  people  as  characterized  these 
apostles  of  the  fourth  and  ninth  centuries !  There 
is  not  a  university  in  all  Germany,  or  France,  or 
Britain  that  does  not  owe  its  very  existence  and 
all  the  literature  in  their  vast  libraries  to  the 
early  seed-sowing  and  fertilizing  work  under  God 
of  Ulfilas  and  Cyril. 

The  more  important  way  in  which  the  gift  of 
grace  for  language  work  has  wrought  out  in 
missions  has  been  in  their  wide  translation  of  the 
Scriptures.  Parts  of  the  Bible,  at  least,  have 
been  rendered  into  the  language  and  dialects  of 
more  than  five  hundred  peoples,  covering  all  the 
most  important  nations. 

The  work  of  Carey  alone  was  monumental. 
He  translated  into  thirty-six  languages.  He 
wrought  with  such  intensity  that  he  could  not 
find  in  all  England  the  money  with  which  to  pub- 
lish the  results  of  his  work.  He  outran  his  time 
by  half  a  century  in  this  regard.  Accordingly,  he 
and  his  companions  set  to  work  to  earn  the  money 


88  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

necessary.  They  set  up  an  indigo  factory,  and 
besides,  Carey  turned  in  the  great  bulk  of  his 
salary  which  he  earned  as  professor  of  Sanskrit 
in  a  Calcutta  college.  From  that  time  on  until  his 
death,  working  without  a  furlough  for  forty  years, 
his  wife  afflicted  with  an  unbalanced  mind,  he 
turned  in  and  accounted  for  to  the  treasury  of  the 
English  Baptist  Missionary  Society  the  sum  of 
nearly  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Even 
Marshman,  his  associate,  preceded  Morrison  in 
translating  at  least  the  Old  Testament  into  Chi- 
nese. A  copy  of  this  version  I  found  in  the  public 
library  of  Hong  Kong  three  years  ago;  and  yet 
little  or  no  reference  is  ever  made  to  that  marked 
achievement  in  recounting  the  foundation  laying 
of  missions  in  China. 

The  work  of  Judson  also  in  his  Burman  Bible 
and  dictionary  was  epoch-making.  Another  as- 
tonishing and  typical  work  is  that  of  Mor- 
rison. Note  what  it  embraced :  Morrison  worked 
on  his  dictionary  sixteen  years,  and  in  connection 
with  it  gathered  a  library  of  about  ten  thousand 
Chinese  volumes.  His  dictionary  demanded  six 
large  quartos,  contained  four  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  ninety-five  pages,  and  forty  thousand 
words,  and  it  cost  sixty  thousand  dollars  to  issue 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  89 

it.  It  is  as  much  an  encyclopedia  as  a  lexicon,  con- 
taining biographical,  historical,  and  other  matter 
pertinent  to  national  customs,  systems  of  belief 
and  practice,  and  is  a  general  repertory  of  infor- 
mation on  all  matters  that  throw  light  on  Chinese 
character,  life,  and  literature.  And  this  was  the 
work  of  one  man  within  about  thirty  years,  in  one 
heathen  land,  seeking  to  convey  to  Chinese  minds 
the  riches  of  God's  inspired  word,  the  translation 
of  which  followed  upon  his  work  in  lexicography. 
Respecting  the  difficulties  in  all  this,  Milne,  Mor- 
rison's first  colleague  in  China,  says :  ''  To  learn 
Chinese  is  work  for  men  with  bodies  of  brass, 
lungs  of  steel,  heads  of  oak,  hands  of  spring  steel, 
eyes  of  eagles,  hearts  of  apostles,  memories  of 
angels,  and  lives  of  Methuselah !  " 

Doctor  Hepburn's  work  in  Japan  is  another 
typical  achievement  in  this  realm.  He  went  out 
to  Japan  as  a  medical  man  and  achieved  amazing 
success.  But  he  was  so  moved  by  Japan's  deeper 
needs,  that  he  devoted  himself  for  thirteen  years 
to  making  a  dictionary  of  the  Japanese  language, 
and  more  than  twice  as  long  he  wrought  in  trans- 
lating the  Bible.  But  that  was  a  great  day  in 
Japanese  history  when,  in  the  oldest  church  in 
Tokyo,  the  completion  of  Bible  translation  was 


90  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

solemnly  commemorated.  Before  a  great  audi- 
ence he  told  the  story  of  the  work,  and  lifting  up 
five  superb  volumes,  he  formally  presented  to  the 
Sunrise  Kingdom  the  complete  word  of  God  in 
the  tongue  of  Japan.  Taking  in  one  hand  the 
New  Testament  and  in  the  other  the  Old,  he  said, 
as  he  reverently  laid  them  side  by  side :  ''  A  com- 
plete Bible !  What  more  precious  gift — more  pre- 
cious than  mountains  of  silver  and  gold — could 
the  nations  of  the  West  offer  to  this  nation !  May 
this  sacred  Book  become  to  the  Japanese  what  it 
has  come  to  be  for  the  people  of  the  West — a 
source  of  life,  a  messenger  of  joy  and  peace; 
the  foundation  of  a  true  civilization,  and  of  social 
and  political  prosperity  and  greatness." 

It  is  now  pertinent  to  inquire  who  it  is  that  has 
accomplished  these  prodigious  undertakings  of 
reducing  these  barbaric  jargons  to  writing,  to 
grammatical  principles,  and  so  colored  and  chas- 
tened speech  as  to  make  it  speak  the  vernacular  of 
God's  kingdom  of  grace.  Who  is  it  that  thus 
has  made  possible  a  literature  which  alone  can 
give  any  people  permanence,  and  growth,  and  in- 
tellectual and  moral  value  to  the  world?  Who  is 
it  that,  by  translation,  has  put  divine  revelation 
into  the  hands  of  people  that  were  without  it  for 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  QI 

millenniums?  Who  but  the  missionaries  of  the 
cross !  And  why  has  this  colossal  work  been  con- 
fined to  them  ?  Why  haven't  the  navigators  done 
it,  the  trader,  the  diplomats  and  consuls,  the  ad- 
venturers and  globe  trotters  who  come  home  and 
fill  the  air  and  sometimes  the  journals  with  asper- 
sions on  the  missionaries?  There  is  but  one  an- 
swer. The  missionaries  have  been  the  only  men 
with  the  requisite  motive ;  these  Judsons,  Jewetts, 
Binghams,  Cushings,  and  Eric  Lunds,  and  a  great 
number  of  others,  ancient  and  modern,  have  had 
the  passion  to  save  the  world,  and  hence  such 
power  as  linguists.  The  amount  of  intellectual 
and  moral  discipline  requisite  to  master  so  many 
languages,  thus  helping  to  undo  the  mischief  of 
Babel,  is  also  one  of  the  great  assets  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Who  can  think  the  thoughts  of  God 
over  again  after  him  like  the  scholarly,  devout, 
and  impassioned  missipnary? 

Listen  to  the  testimony  of  one  such  who  has 
been  an  apostle  to  East  African  tribes,  Willis 
Hotchkiss,  of  the  American  Friends'  Mission. 
Mr.  Hotchkiss  is  describing  the  intense  anxiety 
with  which  he  struggled  to  get  out  of  the  natives 
the  one  solitary  word  for  Saviour,  and  he  thus 
speaks : 


92  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

"  There  was  one  word  which  it  took  me  two 
years  and  a  half  of  persistent  effort  to  get.  It  was 
in  my  thought  by  day  and  in  my  dreams  by  night, 
and  I  shall  never  forget  the  thrill  of  joy  that  came 
to  me  when  the  long  search  was  rewarded.  One 
night  my  people  were  seated  around  the  camp- 
fire.  I  listened  to  their  stories,  and  finally  my 
head  man,  Kikuvi,  told  a  story  from  which  I 
hoped  much,  the  story  of  a  man  who  was  attacked 
by  a  lion.  But  he  never  said  a  word  that  I  could 
construe  to  be  the  one  I  wanted.  I  was  about  to 
turn  away,  when  he  turned  to  me  and  said, 
'  Bwana  nukuthaniwa  na  Kikuvi ' — '  The  master 
was  saved  by  Kikuvi.'  I  immediately  said  to  him, 
'  Ukuthani  Bwana  f  'You  saved  the  master?' 
'  Yes,'  said  he.  '  Why,'  said  I,  '  this  is  the  word 
I've  been  wanting  you  to  tell  me  all  these  days, 
because  I  wanted  to  tell  you  that  Jesus,  the  Son 
of  God,  died  to  ' — Kikuvi  turned  to  me  inter- 
ruptingly,  his  black  face  lighting  up  in  the  lurid 
blaze  of  the  camp-fire,  and  said,  *  Master,  I  un- 
derstand now !  This  is  what  you  have  been  trying 
to  tell  us  all  these  moons.  Yesu  died  to  save  us 
from  sin  and  from  the  hands  of  Satan ! '  "  Hotch- 
kiss  adds :  "  I  have  dwelt  four  years  practically 
alone  in  Africa.    I  have  been  thirty  times  stricken 


THE   LANGUAGE- ELEMENT  93 

with  the  fever,  three  times  attacked  by  Hons,  and 
several  times  by  rhinoceri,  a  number  of  times  am- 
bushed by  the  natives,  for  fourteen  months  never 
saw  a  piece  of  bread,  and  have  eaten  everything 
from  ants  to  rhinoceri;  but  let  me  say  to  you,  I 
would  gladly  go  through  the  whole  thing  again  if 
I  could  have  the  joy  of  again  bringing  that  word 
*  Saviour '  and  flashing  it  into  the  darkness  that 
envelops  another  tribe  in  Central  Africa." 

May  God  bring  us  all  into  fellowship  with  the 
passion  of  one  who  could  feel  like  that  respect- 
ing even  one  of  the  keywords  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ;  even  of  him  who  was  the  Word 
made  flesh,  and  who  dwelt  among  us  to  fill  us 
with  grace  and  truth  that  we  might  in  turn  pass 
these  on  to  earth's  remotest  bounds. 


LECTURE  V 


RECKONING  WITH  THE  ETHNIC 
SYSTEMS 


LECTURE  V 

PERIODS  of  missionary  effort,  and  also  their 
forms,  vary  with  their  spheres  of  operation. 
For  example,  the  apostolic  and  sub-apostolic  ef- 
forts were  confined  to  peoples  speaking  in  the 
main  only  Latin  and  Greek,  and  flowed  eastward 
through  Nestorian  and  Persian  agencies.  Begin- 
ning with  the  Apostle  Paul  was  the  accompanying 
movement  to  Christianize  Europe.  Then,  after  a 
long  interval,  ensued  the  new  modern  attempt  to 
evangelize  the  universal  pagan  world,  by  far  the 
most  difficult  of  all  the  religious  undertakings  of 
mankind. 

Up  to  this  time  the  principal  successes  in  work 
among  pagan  peoples  have  been  won  among 
the  simpler  peoples — animistic  and  fetish-wor- 
shipers— like  the  Karens  of  Burma,  the  non- 
caste  peoples  of  India  proper,  various  tribes  in 
Africa,  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  Many  rea- 
sons might  be  given  for  this.  The  results,  how- 
ever, among  the  simpler  peoples,  in  themselves, 
are  great  and  significant,  and  we  cannot  doubt 
G  97 


98  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

that  in  the  end  a  still  greater  glory  will  accrue  to 
Christ,  when  the  historic  ethnic  systems  bow  to 
him.  Perhaps  also,  had  our  fathers  been  com- 
pelled to  deal  with  the  more  complex  problem  first 
it  would  have  led  to  hopeless  discouragement. 

The  ethnic  systems  are  here,  and  they  must  be 
reckoned  with  if  Christ  is  to  have  the  honor  which 
the  Scriptures  promise  and  which  is  his  due.  But 
I  know  of  no  task  more  difficult.  It  is  easy  to  call 
these  systems  false,  and  let  it  go  at  that.  But  this 
will  not  suffice,  and  in  the  end  Christianity  itself 
would  be  discredited  if  that  were  all  we  could  do. 
Confessedly,  the  ethnic  faiths  are  more  system- 
atized and  complex,  and  require  a  line  of  treat- 
ment very  different  from  the  crude  heathenism  of 
the  simpler  peoples. 

But  how  did  any  of  these  religions  come  to  be 
at  all  ?  The  question  is  by  no  means  easy  of  an- 
swer, and  is  of  deep  interest.  We  may  answer  in 
part  as  follows : 

I.  Man  is  a  religious  animal — ^necessarily  so, 
because  men  are  personal,  originally  made  in  the 
image  of  God.  The  religious  instinct  does  not 
arise  from  without ;  men  are  born  with  it.  Hegel 
speaks  of  the  religious  consciousness  as  '*  the  dig- 
nity and  sabbath  of  the  human  life.''  Vinet  says: 


THE  ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  99 

the  very  crude  and  incoherent  notions  of  savage 
tribes,  filled  with  superstitions  as  they  are,  are 
"  the  painful  cries  of  the  soul  torn  from  its  center 
and  separated  from  its  object."  It  is  human  to 
reach  out  after  the  invisible  and  the  eternal.  One 
cannot  think  and  not  do  so.  Man  is  a  dependent 
being,  and  always  knows  it. 

2.  The  natural  conscience  keeps  alive  the  sense 
of  accountability,  although  there  may  be  only  rela- 
tive degrees  of  illumination. 

3.  There  are  many  surviving  traditions  of  a 
primitive  but  lost  revelation,  which  despite  all  the 
damage  wrought  by  ancestral  departure  from 
God,  still  leave  men  with  enough  light  to  afford 
the  alphabet  of  a  gospel.  Doctor  Ashmore  used 
to  speak  of  a  gospel  of  nature,  and  an  ante-sunrise 
faith.     Cornelius  had  both. 

4.  The  distortions  of  primitive  truth  by  cor- 
rupt priestly  influence  account  for  much  of  the 
crass,  foolish,  and  gross  depravity  that  we  find 
in  Hinduism,  Taoism,  and  Buddhism.  Brahmin 
priestcraft,  Taoist  conjurer,  Mohammedan  der- 
vish, and  fetish  witch  doctor  all  have  been  busy. 
Satanic  influence  and  demonology  have  filled 
heathen  lands  with  their  corruptions  and  lies.  The 
late  Dr.  J.  L.  Nevius,  of  China,  declares  that  the 


100  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

non-Christian  religions  as  they  exist,  instead  of 
being  steps  in  an  upward  evolutionary  movement 
from  error  to  truth,  were  rather  ''  skilful  devices 
through  which  men  fell  away  from  truth  and 
covered  their  departure  in  the  interest  of  lies." 
These  forms  of  idolatry,  while  they  give  hints  of 
an  original  revelation  of  God  in  the  human  soul, 
are  with  the  most  consummate  art  so  devised  as  to 
leave  the  soul  farther  and  farther  from  God ;  they 
have  really  done  far  more  to  turn  the  truth  of  God 
into  a  lie  than  they  have  done  to  keep  alive  the 
remnants  of  original,  natural  truth,  with  which 
the  animists  started.  Paul's  characterization  of 
the  tendencies  of  human  nature  is  borne  out  by 
all  close  observation  of  heathendom.  Men  in  sin 
do  "  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge." 
It  is  true  that  heathen  systems  have  lying  back 
in  their  natures  some  deep  sense  of  God,  and  some 
responsiveness  to  moral  principles,  but  still,  prac- 
tically, the  heathen  are  awfully  estranged  from 
God.  God  is  so  far  away  that  he  is  practically 
ruled  out  of  the  religious  life,  and  his  place  is 
taken  by  demons  or  phantoms.  In  the  ethnic 
religions  we  have  some  half-truths,  e.  g.,  Hindu- 
ism teaches  the  immanence  of  God,  but  in  such  a 
way  as  to  belie  his  infinite  transcendence.     Bud- 


THE   ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  lOI 

dhism  teaches  the  transitoriness  of  human  life, 
but  in  a  morbid  and  pessimistic  way,  and  on  the 
wholly  false  ground  that  existence  per  se  is  an  evil. 
Mohammedanism  teaches  the  unity  of  God,  and 
his  supreme  authority  and  power  to  which  all 
life  should  be  subject,  but  there  is  no  tender  love 
and  grace  in  its  God,  nor  a  loving,  forgiving,  and 
cleansing  power.  Confucianism  teaches  the  sol- 
emn dignity  of  our  human  and  family  relation- 
ships in  some  sort  of  an  ordered  society. 

But  Christianity  teaches  every  truth  in  all  these 
other  beliefs,  and  in  a  vastly  truer  and  more 
wholesome  way.  It  has  the  balancing  principles 
which  these  systems  lack.  Besides,  these  systems 
all  justify  the  most  hideous  moral  evils. 

The  success  of  systems  like  Mohammedanism, 
Hinduism,  Buddhism,  Confucianism,  are  in  part 
explained  by  the  enthusiasm  of  mere  zealotry. 
And  the  reason  why  none  of  these  systems  keep 
themselves  pure  is  that,  despite  some  excellent 
ideals  in  them,  corrupting  animisms  and  demon- 
ologies  keep  creeping  into  the  natural  mind  as 
there  is  no  inner  power  strong  enough  to  lift  up 
a  standard  against  them. 

When  a  pure  Christianity  meets  mere  animism, 
one  of  these  unsystematized  religions,  like  that 


102  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

of  the  Karens,  Kols,  or  Bantus,  it  wins  a  com- 
paratively easy  victory.  The  reasons  why  it  is 
so  difficult  to  meet  a  systematized  paganism  are 
many;  e.  g.,  i.  It  is  buttressed  by  an  ancient  his- 
toric cult ;  it  has  a  hoary  and  venerated  literature ; 
it  has  an  institutionalism  with  priests,  monasteries, 
museums,  etc.  It  has  a  philosophy  of  some  sort, 
a  reasoned  standing-ground,  with  a  sense  of  social 
— in  some  sense  spiritual  and  national  achieve- 
ment. Pride,  reverence,  even  self-respect,  are 
within  or  behind  it. 

2.  The  great  systems  have  each  been  linked 
with  types  of  civilization,  marked  and  powerful, 
like  the  Chinese,  the  Indian,  the  Persian,  and 
Arabian,  the  Egyptian,  and  the  Japanese.  They 
have  been  skilfully  adapted  to  temperaments  and 
climates  also.  And  the  problem  of  their  dispos- 
session by  Christianity  is  most  complex.  It  is 
not  a  mere  matter  of  the  action  of  a  gospel  mes- 
sage upon  a  tabula  rasa,  as  of  a  sensitized  photo- 
graphic plate;  it  has  to  do  with  a  thousand  ele- 
ments open  and  hidden  in  the  thought,  habit,  and 
environment  of  varied  peoples. 

3.  Great  names,  real  or  mythical,  stand  behind 
these  systems,  and  they  exercise  an  immense 
power   upon   the   imagination,   sensibilities,   and 


THE   ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  IO3 

consciences  of  the  people.  Mohammed,  Confu- 
cius, and  Gautama,  ''  from  their  urns,"  rule  their 
votaries,  as  the  idealized  characters  of  Cromwell 
or  Washington,  politically,  do  the  English-speak- 
ing peoples.  To  many  these  names  are  greater 
even  to  their  devotees  than  is  that  of  Christ  to 
many  nominal  Christians. 

4.  These  religions  really  divide  the  earth's  ter- 
ritory with  historical  Christianity,  and  even  be- 
come nationalized,  so  that  to  give  them  up  is 
considered  national  treason.  The  one  hope  for 
Christianity  is  that,  as  it  antedates  the  birth  hour 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  into  the  world,  going  back 
not  only  to  the  protevangelium  in  Eden,  but  to  the 
Lamb  eternally  slain  and  eternally  native  both  to 
the  nature  of  God  and  of  man,  so  it  will  yet  show 
that  it  is  something  greater  than  a  rival  cult,  even 
the  complement  of  all  that  is  best  in  all  the  mere 
systems,  and  the  conqueror  of  their  evils.  Nor 
need  we  doubt  that,  relatively,  the  great  historic 
systems  have  had  in  them,  or  despite  them,  some 
elements  of  blessing  to  the  peoples  whose  thought 
they  have  ruled.  In  simple  justice  and  truth  we 
must  say  these  things.  Nothing  is  gained  by  un- 
reasoning denials.  We  must  not  judge  these  re- 
ligions by  the  worst  that  is  in  them  any  more 


104  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

than  we  would  judge  the  health  of  humanity  by 
what  we  see  in  the  hospitals,  but  by  their  best  and 
worst.  This  value,  however,  remains  to  all  re- 
ligion. Man  is  not  only  ix  Xpcazou  but  h<;  Xpe^zou 
(not  only  of  Christ  but  also  for  Christ).  But  for 
this  in  the  nature  of  those  things  which  constitute 
man  a  religious  animal,  we  would  be  deprived  of 
our  highest  encouragement  to  missionary  effort. 

We  lose  nothing  by  granting  that  all  religious 
systems  have  their  native  root  in  the  religious  na- 
ture of  man.  Christianity  has  this  factor  in 
common  with  all  other  religions,  but  it  can  be 
shown  that  in  addition  Christianity  has  been  fa- 
vored with  a  special  and  final  revelation  from  God, 
bearing  in  its  message  the  secret  of  the  gift  in 
pure  grace,  able  to  recover  man  from  his  sin  and 
ruin. 

The  faulty  view  of  comparative  religion  which 
builds  on  the  assumption  that  all  religions  alike  are 
legitimate  products  of  the  faith  in  the  unseen  which 
is  natural  to  man,  and  that  Christianity  is  nothing 
more  than  a  high  development  of  native  instinct, 
a  purely  naturalistic  product,  and  nowise  final, 
is  here  seen;  that  the  differences  between  Chris- 
tianity and  other  systems  are  purely  relative,  even 
accidental,  is  the  parent  of  inexcusable  confusion. 


THE   ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  IO5 

Of  course  a  half-truth  is  here.  Christianity 
indeed  is  native  to  man,  as  all  religion  is.  In 
this  respect  it  has  much  in  common  with  other  re- 
ligions. This  granted,  however,  it  is  always  le- 
gitimate to  go  on  and  point  out  the  respects  in 
which  Christianity  is  superior  and  final,  and  has 
power  to  save  in  the  very  largest  sense  and  unto 
the  uttermost.  The  true  way  to  meet  erroneous 
conceptions  in  the  realm  of  comparative  religion, 
such  as  that  above  stated,  is  not  to  take  up  a  nar- 
row attitude  toward  ethnic  religions,  but  to  ex- 
amine these  various  systems  by  instituting  a  thor- 
ough comparison.  After  this  has  been  done  then 
will  stand  out  all  the  more  clearly  the  points  at 
which  Christianity,  in  contrast  to  them  all,  is 
supreme.  We  are  better  equipped  at  this  time, 
when  all  religions  are  better  known,  than  at 
any  previous  period  in  history  to  make  this  dem- 
onstration. In  Christianity,  revelation  is  the 
complement  of  reason  and  the  natural.  The 
identity  of  human  reason,  as  far  as  it  goes  in  its 
deliverances  wherever  found  in  any  system,  is  es- 
sentially consonant  with  the  divine,  and  so  the 
Bible  throughout  implies.  On  this  basis  the  mis- 
sionary need  never  fear  to  commend  what  good 
there  is  in  any  system,  and  then  relate  it  to  the 


I06  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

higher  good  in  Christ.  We  need  not  fall  into  the 
error  of  the  Jews,  who  because  God  temporarily 
isolated  them  for  large  purposes  for  the  whole 
world,  thought  they  were  elected  to  a  mere 
favoritism  for  their  own  sakes,  and  so  assumed 
bitter,  and  haughty,  and  hostile  airs  toward  the 
uncircumcised,  calling  the  Gentiles  '^  dogs,"  etc. 
The  Bible  has  many  protests  against  this  essen- 
tially ungodly  spirit.  The  Prophet  Amos  (9  : 
7-9)  taught  Israel  that  Jehovah  had  placed  other 
nations  in  their  lands  in  the  same  way  and  by  the 
same  spirit  in  which  he  had  led  themselves  out  of 
Egypt.  He  led  the  Syrians  from  Kir  and  the 
Philistines  from  Caphtor,  and  the  prophet  de- 
clared that  God  would  judge  Israel  and  Judah 
for  their  sins  by  the  same  moral  law  by  which  he 
condemned  those  nations,  only  their  punishment 
would  be  heavier  as  their  light  was  greater.  The 
Prophet  Malachi  ( i :  11)  shamed  the  formalism 
of  Israel  that  brought  begrudged,  polluted  offer- 
ings to  his  altar,  and  reminded  them  that  a  pure 
offering  was  being  made  to  him  by  races  outside 
the  Jewish  pale :  "  For  my  name  is  great  and  ter- 
rible among  the  Gentiles,  saith  the  Lord  of 
Hosts."  ^    Jesus  himself  declared  to  the  Jews  of 

1  Standard  R.  V. 


THE   ETHNIC    SYSTEMS  IO7 

his  time,  "  Many  shall  come  from  the  East  and 
the  West,"  that  is,  from  heathen  nations,  "  and 
shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
but  the  sons  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast  out." 
Christ's  attitude  to  Samaritans  and  Gentiles,  to 
the  Roman  centurion  and  the  Syro-Phoenician 
woman,  whom  he  tested  so  severely,  all  go  to 
show  that  Jesus  conceived  saving  faith  to  consist 
of  a  right  moral  attitude  to  the  degree  of  light  one 
has.  Peter  discovering  how  the  Spirit  of  God 
had  fallen  upon  the  centurion,  who  in  the  spirit 
worshiped  and  gave  alms  and  coveted  yet  greater 
light,  said :  ''  Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that 
feareth  him  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accept- 
able to  him."  Paul,  as  the  great  missionary  to 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  model  worker  for  all  time, 
''  became  all  things  to  all  men,"  whether  Jews, 
Greeks,  or  barbarians,  and  utilized  degrees  of  light 
from  nature,  as  in  his  sermon  at  Lystra,  or  even 
from  the  practice  of  idolatrous  worship,  as  at 
Athens,  or  from  the  Jews  in  their  synagogue 
practices.  He  sought  points  of  contact.  He  pre- 
supposed that  God  had  been  at  work  before  him, 
and  working  along  the  line  of  least  resistance  he 
won  his  gospel  triumphs. 


I08  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

To  merely  proselytize  from  one  form  of  re- 
ligion to  another  is  not  a  wise  method  of  work- 
ing, but  is  simply  to  intensify  the  rivalries  of  re- 
ligion considered  as  partisan.  How  Jesus  rebuked 
the  Pharisees  for  efforts  of  that  sort.  What  is 
needed  is  to  awaken  a  new  realization  of  that  for 
which  one  at  his  best  already  stands.  Better  to 
find  a  common  platform  of  brotherhood  on  which 
to  place  your  feet,  then  either  you  may  be  helped 
or  you  may  help  others  to  something  higher.  All 
men  need  to  be  awakened  from  within.  Attacks 
from  without  only  harden.  We  need  to  gain  indi- 
viduals, who  in  turn  will  become  centers  of  propa- 
gation to  others.  Whom  men  ignorantly  worship, 
Him  must  we  interpret  to  them. 

So  far  as  there  are  elements  of  natural  religion, 
true  in  themselves  in  any  one,  there  is  no  occasion 
to  displace  them.  Such  factors  of  religion,  wher- 
ever found,  are  to  be  complemented  by  "  the  true 
light  which  now  shineth." 

Christianity  in  its  normal  exercise  acts  on  the 
baser  elements  in  other  systems — as  in  its  own — 
as  quicksilver  acts  on  pulverized  gold-bearing 
quartz;  it  gathers  the  particles  of  precious  metal 
hidden  in  the  coarser  element.  In  this  process 
the  quartz  and  the  mica  are  discarded,  but  there 


THE    ETHNIC    SYSTEMS  IO9 

is  no  quarrel  with,  much  less  contempt  of, 
them.  The  quicksilver  helps  to  bring  to  its  own, 
to  fulfil  the  quartz  for  bullion  or  for  coin-current. 
And  so  Christianity  would  bring  to  its  self-realiza- 
tion the  truth  latent  in  the  ethnic  systems,  while 
properly  eliminating  and  discarding  the  baser 
stuff.  The  missionary  patent  of  Christianity  is 
mainly  the  right  to  impart  and  share  its  grace 
with  all  mankind. 

Christianity  is  in  conflict  with  no  soul  who,  in 
the  light  he  has,  acts  penitently  and  believingly 
toward  his  highest  ideal,  whether  it  be  exercised 
by  an  Abraham,  a  Plato,  a  George  Muller,  or  a 
Socrates.  A  fetish-worshiper  in  Africa  refused 
to  complete  a  bargain  with  a  European  trader  for 
some  cattle  until  he  should  have  time  to  return 
home  for  his  forgotten  fetish.  Would  that  some 
nominal  Christians  In  our  land  would  stop  in 
their  transactions  till  they  took  time  to  consult 
their  forgotten  God. 

But  having  made  these  discriminations  in  the 
interest  of  equity  and  truth,  we  must  not  allow 
ourselves  to  be  misled  into  the  notion  that,  after 
all,  one  religion  relatively  speaking  is  as  good  as 
another;  that  Hinduism  is  sufficient  for  Hindus, 
Buddhism  for  Buddhists,  and  even  demonology 


no  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

will  do  for  the  poor  animists.  At  the  very  least, 
Christianity  is  the  complement,  the  fulfilment  of 
all  the  aspirations  and  longings  of  that  which  is 
highest  in  all  the  religions.  But  it  is  vastly  more 
than  this.  It  is  competent  to  correct  all  their  evils, 
abuses,  and  profanations,  and  this  is  absolutely 
necessary  in  order  to  any  real  and  worthy  stand- 
ard of  salvation.  Accordingly,  it  would  be  but 
trifling  did  we  not  point  out  the  dreadful  defects 
and  evils  which  so  conspicuously  characterize  all 
heathen  systems.  One  who  really  knows  heathen- 
ism as  it  exists  and  dominates  millions  at  this 
hour,  and  who  would  not  confine  himself  to  mere 
academic  notions  derived  from  the  cloister,  must 
recognize  this  or  become  the  victim  of  self-delu- 
sion. And  he  will  delude  others.  A  teaching  of 
comparative  religion  which  conducts  itself  thus 
is  not  worthy  of  a  moment's  respect.  The  truth  is, 
that  actual  study  of  the  ethnic  systems  will  re- 
veal that  elements  false  and  corrupting  derived 
from  the  philosophies  in  them,  say  of  pantheism, 
or  ancestor  worship,  or  the  fatalism  of  Moham- 
medanism, have  rendered  the  systems  at  those 
points  vastly  worse  rather  than  better  for  their 
philosophies.  Simple  animists  are  much  more 
reachable  by  the  gospel  than  the  victims  of  sys- 


THE   ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  III 

terns  that  have  been  so  perverted  and  at  many 
points  so  prepossessed  by  speculative  falsities. 
Said  Jesus,  '^  All  that  ever  came  before  me  are 
thieves  and  robbers  " — an  expression  worthy  of 
the  most  profound  reflection.  It  is  no  dictum  of  a 
mere  rival  in  philosophy,  but  of  One  who  was  be- 
fore and  above  all  philosophies. 

I  quote  two  or  three  witnesses  that  will  not  be 
suspected  of  perversity  or  even  prejudice.  Max 
Miiller,  of  Oxford,  begins  his  preface  to  his  trans- 
lation of  the  sacred  books  of  the  East  with  these 
cautions : 

"  Readers  who  have  been  led  to  believe  that 
the  Vedas  of  the  ancient  Brahmins,  the  Avesta  of 
the  Zoroastrians,  the  Tripitika  of  the  Buddhists, 
the  kings  of  Confucius,  or  the  Koran  of  Moham- 
med, are  books  full  of  primeval  wisdom  and  re- 
ligious enthusiasm,  or  at  least  of  sound  and  simple 
teaching,  moral  teaching,  will  be  disappointed  on 
consulting  these  volumes.  Looking  at  many  of 
the  books  that  have  lately  been  published  on  the 
religions  of  the  ancient  world,  I  do  not  wonder 
that  such  a  belief  should  have  been  raised,  but  I 
have  long  felt  that  it  was  high  time  to  dispel  such 
illusions,  and  to  place  the  study  of  the  ancient  re- 
ligions of  the  world  on  a  more  real  and  sound,  on 


112  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

a  more  truly  historic  basis."  Miiller  explains 
that  '*  it  is  but  natural  that  those  who  have  studied 
from  translations  only  would  naturally  have  eyes 
for  the  bright  side  chiefly.  The  bright  features 
attract  attention,  the  dark  as  they  teach  nothing 
escape  notice.  .  .  Even  scholars  who  have  de- 
voted life  to  real  study  are  inclined,  after  having 
disinterred  from  a  heap  of  rubbish  some  solitary 
fragments  of  pure  gold,  to  exhibit  these  treasures 
only,  rather  than  display  all  the  refuse  from  which 
they  have  had  to  extract  them."  He  warns 
amateurs  and  dilletantes  in  this  realm.  Miiller 
declined  to  translate  many  paragraphs  in  these 
ancient  writings,  because  they  were  too  offensive 
for  the  taste  of  English  readers. 

Macaulay  will  not  be  suspected  of  giving  testi- 
mony particularly  partial  to  Christianity,  and  in 
his  famous  speech  on  the  "  Gates  of  Somnauth," 
he  thus  speaks  of  the  superstitious  system  of 
Hinduism :  ''  As  this  superstition  is  of  all  super- 
stitions the  most  irrational,  and  of  all  superstitions 
the  most  inelegant,  so  it  is  of  all  superstitions  the 
most  immoral.  Emblems  of  vice  are  objects  of 
public  worship.  The  courtesans  are  as  much  a 
part  of  the  establishment  of  the  temple,  as  much 
the  ministers  of  the  gods  as  the  priests.     Crimes 


THE   ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  II3 

against  life,  crimes  against  property,  are  not  only 
permitted  but  enjoined  by  this  odious  theology." 

Meredith  Townsend,  the  present  editor  of  the 
'*  London  Spectator,"  was  for  many  years  a  resi- 
dent of  India,  and  has  written  a  notable  book, 
entitled  "  Asia  and  Europe,"  in  which  he  analyzes 
Hinduism  in  a  most  masterful  way.  Subsequent 
to  the  Chicago  Parliament  of  Religions,  in  writing 
on  the  core  of  Hinduism,  he  took  pains  to  review 
some  of  the  extraordinary  claims  of  Swami  Vive- 
kananda.  In  doing  so,  he  thus  speaks :  "  The 
curse  of  India  is  just  what  is  the  worst  idea  of  all 
India,  that  morality  has  no  immutable  basis  but  is 
deemed  by  every  man  a  fluctuating  law.  The 
Hindu  mind  holds  the  most  diametrically  oppo- 
site facts  as  though  all  such  facts  were  true. 
There  is  an  absolute  want  of  ethical  reality. 
There  is  nothing  to  bind  together  religion  and 
morality."  But  of  what  sort  is  a  so-called  ''  re- 
ligion "  that  is  not  bound  to  morality  ? 

Mr.  Townsend  goes  on  to  say :  ''  This  explains 
why  the  holiest  city  in  India  is  the  most  vile  and 
accursed.  The  most  loathsome  carvings  in  the 
world  are  on  the  friezes  of  the  holiest  temples,  on 
the  bank  of  the  most  sacred  river  of  India."  I 
myself  once  spent  parts  of  two  days  in  that  same 


114  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

city  referred  to,  the  sacred  city  of  Benares,  and 
could  not  escape  seeing  the  vile  temple  friezes  re- 
ferred to.  I  saw  the  dreadful  funeral  pyres,  the 
horrid  old,  dusty  alcoves  of  temples  of  marvelous 
architectural  form  and  device,  in  which  were 
groveling  lean,  starved  old  fakirs,  who  had  not 
in  half  a  lifetime  washed  their  putrid  bodies,  nor 
combed  the  long,  matted  hair  which  fell  to  their 
feet  in  ropes  of  matted  filth,  and  alive  with  vermin ; 
these  men  begging  for  alms  on  the  one  hand,  and 
receiving  the  worship  of  their  stupid  co-religionists 
the  next  moment.  Thousands  of  pilgrims  every 
morning  can  be  seen  rinsing  their  mouths  and 
drinking  in  the  poisoned  putridities  of  the 
Ganges,  in  which  constantly  float  the  decomposing 
carcasses  of  half-burned  human  dead;  and  as  I 
left  that  profane — rather  than  sacred — Mecca  of 
Hinduism,  I  felt  ashamed  to  look  a  decent  mem- 
ber of  my  race  in  the  face.  I  said  to  my  traveling 
companion,  "  It  might  be  said  of  us,  as  the  peo- 
ple of  Florence  used  to  say  of  Dante  after  he  had 
published  his  cantos  on  the  Inferno,  '  There  goes 
the  man  who  has  been  in  hell.'  Only  in  our  case 
it  was  more  literally  true  than  it  was  of  Dante." 
Besides,  Dante's  imaginative  peregrinations  were 
at  least  free  from  the  gross  bestiality  of  Benares. 


THE   ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  II5 

Coming  to  Mohammedanism  it  may  be  enough 
to  repeat  what  one  has  said  of  it,  "  Wherever  it 
has  gone  it  has  either  found  a  desert  or  made 
one." 

Then  the  comparative  barrenness  of  all  these 
systems  for  thousands  of  years  in  personal,  family, 
social,  and  national  relations  as  utterly  inade- 
quate to  meet  the  higher  needs  of  the  human 
family,  is  their  own  worst  condemnation.  Their 
very  languages  in  destitution  of  words  for  fun- 
damental moral  ideas  and  conceptions  are  proof 
of  their  barrenness.  Personally,  I  have  little  sym- 
pathy with  the  hope  expressed  by  Phillips  Brooks, 
Cuthbert  Hall,  et  al,  that  these  Eastern  systems 
will  ever  contribute  much  to  the  enrichment  of 
Christianity.  Our  contact  with  Orientalism, 
historically  and  psychologically,  may  help  us 
better  to  understand  our  Bibles,  and  the  "  East- 
ern soul  "  and  Eastern  temperaments  when  re- 
newed by  Christ  will  enhance  his  glory,  but 
Oriental  heathenism  as  such  will  add  nothing 
of  value. 

We  now  hint  briefly  at  some  of  the  elements 
which  we  deem  to  be  involved  in  a  practical  quali- 
fication for  the  missionary  who  would  wisely 
reckon  with  these  faiths,  and  become  competent 


Il6  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

for  the  pressing  of  Christianity  upon  the  adher- 
ents of  these  colossal  ethnic  systems : 

I.  There  must  be  first  on  the  intellectual  side 
of  the  qualifying  process  an  actual  knowledge  of 
the  systems — at  least  of  some  one  system — a 
knowledge  acquired  not  only  in  the  best  of  li- 
braries with  a  mastery  of  the  literature  of  the 
subject,  but  that  book  knowledge  supplemented, 
in  large  part  corrected  and  balanced  also,  by  a 
residence  of  years  in  the  midst  of  the  people  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  who  have  been  domi- 
nated by  the  system.  No  one  man  will  find  life  long 
enough  to  master  more  than  one  of  these  systems. 
The  best  recent  illustration  that  has  appeared  of 
one  who  has  had  both  the  scholarship  and  the 
actual  missionary  experience  by  residence  among 
a  people  to  qualify  highly  for  this  task  is  Jo- 
hannes Warneck,  for  a  score  or  so  of  years  a  mis- 
sionary in  Sumatra,  now  residing  in  Germany,  a 
superintendent  of  missions,  and  who  has  ana- 
lyzed, interpreted,  and  published  to  the  world  the 
real  problem  of  animism  for  Christianity.  His 
recent  book,  "  The  Living  Christ  and  Dying 
Heathenism,"  represents  the  type  of  analysis  and 
practical  suggestion  which  should  be  wrought  out 
for  every  one  of  the  non-Christian  systems  of  the 


THE   ETHNIC  SYSTEMS  H? 

world.  This  would  represent  a  form  of  achieve- 
ment which,  so  far  as  I  know,  few  universities  in 
the  world  have  a  man  equal  to.  Nor  can  one  be 
competent  as  a  teacher  in  comparative  religion 
until  he  has  come  to  know  and  experience  Chris- 
tianity itself  also  in  the  profoundest  way.  A  man 
with  the  combined  qualities  of  a  Plato,  a  Neander, 
a  Schleiermacher,  a  Morrison,  a  Paton,  a  Spur- 
geon,  an  Ashmore,  a  Moody,  would  be  none  too 
competent  for  the  ideal  I  have  in  mind. 

2.  Again,  a  power  of  penetration  into  the  psy- 
chology of  the  Eastern  mind,  and  that  mind  as 
differentiated  from  the  Eastern  mind,  per  se,  by 
the  influence  of  centuries  of  Hinduism  or  Confu- 
cianism behind  it,  is  essential  to  the  highest  compe- 
tency even  on  the  mental  side  of  the  achievement 
proposed. 

3.  A  real  first-hand  study  of  the  Scriptures 
themselves,  apart  from  all  theories  whatsoever  as 
to  their  origin  or  interpretation,  is  requisite. 
This  should  be  a  study  with  a  view  to  ascertain- 
ing principles  that  are  written  between  the  lines 
and  discoverable  only  to  the  man  who  dares  to 
live  out  those  principles  in  his  own  life,  and  so 
gains  real  insight  into  them. 

4.  Resulting  from  this  we  should  have  a  prod- 


Il8  THE  TASK  WORTH  WHILE 

uct  who,  in  the  realm  of  reHgion,  would  be  ab- 
solutely non-partisan  in  his  spirit  and  temper, 
and  who  would  sell  all  things  for  the  truth  itself, 
one  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  who  said,  "  To  this 
end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the 
world,  that  I  might  bear  witness  to  the  truth." 

5.  Next  there  should  be  ever  growing  in  the 
soul  the  inventiveness  of  love  for  men  as  men  in 
the  way  in  which  God  loves  them — for  their  possi- 
bilities in  his  grace.  This  inventiveness  of  love, 
surmounting  all  difficulties,  would  find  points  of 
contact  with  the  pagan  mind  despite  all  his  dark- 
ness and  perversities,  the  divine  Spirit  co-opera- 
ting.^ This  would  result  in  fresh  concrete  state- 
ments of  doctrine  embracing  elements  old  and 
new.  The  timeless  factors  in  truth  equally 
adapted  to  Oriental  and  Occidental  minds  would 
assert  themselves,  and  the  upshot  would  be  an 
extension  of  Christ's  own  personal  incarnation  of 
the  truth  in  the  missionary  himself.  All  men, 
indeed,  in  any  view  of  the  world's  salvation  which 
the  Bible  warrants,  would  not  accept  even  such  an 
idealized  religion  as  I  am  pleading  for,  because 
that  same  truth,   however  perfect,   which  wins 

1  See  the  Method  of  Dr.  R.  A.  Hume,  of  India,  quoted  from  his  own  oral 
account  in  my  "Method  in  Soul  Winning,"  pp.  86-90. 


THE   ETHNIC   SYSTEMS  1 19 

some  would  harden  others.  But  it  would  repre- 
sent a  method  with  the  ethnic  systems  which 
would  win  multitudes,  certainly  the  "  elect "  of 
God,  and  in  a  representative  way  demonstrate  the 
power  of  Christ  to  dethrone  as  a  system  any  and 
every  form  of  religion  which  is  intrinsically  hos- 
tile to  himself  or  to  the  principles  represented  by 
him. 

For  some  such  competency  in  its  representative 
missionaries  the  great  cause  waits,  in  order  to  the 
real  conquest  of  the  ethnic  systems. 


LECTURE  VI 

THE  FINALITY  OF  CHRISTIANITY  IN 
RELIGION 


LECTURE  VI 

IN  my  last  lecture  I  dealt  with  the  ethnic  faiths, 
resolving  them  to  principles  out  of  some  one 
or  more  of  which  on  the  human  side  all  religions 
in  one  degree  or  another  spring.  I  also  implied 
throughout  and  declared  that  there  is  something 
unique  in  Christianity  which  marks  it  as  a  divine 
revelation,  and  entitles  it  to  stand  on  a  plane  by 
itself. 

It  is  unfriendly  to  the  ethnic  systems  only  in 
the  sense  that  it  puts  reality  in  the  place  of  fic- 
tions, in  the  sense  that  health  is  unfriendly  to 
disease,  knowledge  to  ignorance,  and  man's  gen- 
eral well-being  to  his  ill-being.  If  any  religionist 
in  the  world  will  loyally  follow  the  element  which 
is  highest  in  his  religion,  whether  systematized  or 
unsystematized  in  form,  it  will  lead  him  Christ- 
ward  as  surely  as  he  follows  that  clue,  because  all 
noble  ideals  find  their  consummation  in  Christ. 

I  now  pass  to  the  reasons  why  I  hold  Chris- 
tianity to  occupy  that  unique  position : 

I  can  mention  but  two  or  three,  and  that  in 

123 


124  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

brief,  for  this  is  not  a  treatise  on  evidences  of 
Christianity. 

I.  Christianity  is  preeminently  the  religion  of 
a  person,  who  as  final  and  absolute,  recreates  him- 
self in  the  human  soul.  This  position  as  to  its 
acceptance  or  rejection  is  so  related  to  the  evolu- 
tionary idea  that  I  must  incidentally  consider  this 
matter  before  proceeding  further.  There  is  a 
half-truth  in  both  evolution  and  comparative  re- 
ligion, based  on  it;  for  the  present,  however,  I 
confine  myself  to  evolution. 

I  do  not  in  the  least  question  the  truth  of  evo- 
lution in  a  theistic  sense,  as  a  method  of  God's 
operation.  My  protest  is  only  against  evolution 
being  God's  supreme  and  exclusive  method  of  the 
divine  workings  in  the  universe  as  a  whole,  in  a 
way  that  intereferes  with  the  divine  freedom  and 
renders  God  himself  the  victim  of  his  own  laws. 
The  historic  Christ  is  the  supreme  revelation  of 
God,  with  a  perpetual  power  of  initiative,  in  re- 
gions where  evolution  fails,  and  is  the  real  and 
final  causality  of  all  things,  sin  excepted,  in  na- 
ture, providence,  and  grace.  Science,  which  has 
had  so  much  to  say  on  evolution,  may  stand  upon 
its  own  ground,  but  as  such  has  nothing  whatever 
to  say  regarding  causality,  and  hence  is  within 


THE    FINALITY   OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 25 

the  cosmos  and  not  before  or  behind  it.  Science 
may  observe  and  register  phenomena,  but  there  its 
function  ceases.  In  other  words,  it  may  take  in 
phenomena  and  describe  their  workings  and 
methods,  but  as  respects  the  cause  or  inherent 
energy,  even  of  gravitation  or  electrical  energy, 
or  what  is  called  force,  it  must  ever  be  dumb ;  and 
so  also  as  interpreting  to  us  the  meanings  of  phe- 
nomena. 

Now  the  Christianity  we  are  concerned  about 
for  ourselves  and  for  the  heathen  is  something 
vastly  deeper  than  any  merely  phenomenal  matter. 
It  is  the  interpretation  of  a  fact  which  at  first  is 
only  historic  to  us.  But  upon  deeper  examination 
we  find  the  fact  to  be  super-historic,  even  miracu- 
lous. But  the  miracle  in  the  case  does  not  offend 
us,  because  in  it  there  has  been  no  violation  of  any- 
thing actually  violable.  There  has  been  simply  a 
transcendence  by  personality — and  that  the  per- 
sonality of  God-in-Christ — of  what  sometimes 
looks  like  a  law  so  immutable  as  to  exist  separately 
from  God.  And  yet  it  cannot  be ;  for  all  the  energy 
there  is  in  what  we  call  law  is  a  form  of  the  will 
of  God.  Says  a  distinguished  authority  in  this 
realm,  the  late  Professor  Bowne :  '^  The  super- 
natural is  the  ever-present  ground  and  adminis- 


126  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

trator  of  nature,  and  nature  is  simply  the  form 
under  which  the  supreme  reason  and  will  manifest 
themselves.  Things  are  always  supernatural  in 
their  causation. 

Back  of  the  loaf  is  the  snowy  flour, 

Back  of  the  flour  the  mill; 
Back  of  the  mill  is  the  wheat  and  the 
shower, 

And  the  sun  and  the  Father's  will. 

"  God  never  acts  against  nature,  because  for 
him  there  is  no  nature  to  act  against.  His  pur- 
pose formed  in  wisdom  and  goodness  is  alone  law- 
giving for  his  action ;  and  all  else,  whatever  it  may 
be,  is  but  the  expression  of  that  purpose.  Nature 
conceived  as  a  barrier  to  God,  or  as  something 
with  which  God  must  reckon,  is  a  pure  fiction,  a 
product  of  unclear  thought,  which  has  lost  itself 
in  abstractions." 

Moreover,  this  miraculous  fact  of  the  cosmic 
super-historic  Christ,  is  as  Principal  Forsyth  says, 
"  something  which  recreates  itself  in  our  own 
experience  as  something  self-attesting,  and  it  lives 
on  in  us,'*  a  fact  which  waits  to  reenact  itself  in 
the  soul  of  all  men  of  every  race  and  clime  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  as  it  has  already  representatively 
done.  Of  course  this  interpretation  is  deeply  mys- 


THE    FINALITY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 27 

tical,  because  Christ,  whom  we  wish  men  to  know, 
is  a  Christ  of  experiential  power,  something 
deeper  than  a  mere  phenomenon  or  genius  of 
history,  hke  Caesar  or  Cromwell.  The  faith 
which  we  seek  to  awaken  in  men  is  an  attitude 
that  can  only  be  taken  to  the  true  God  of  our 
being,  because  it  involves  more  than  a  mere  men- 
tal view  of  things;  it  involves  the  action  of  the 
conscience,  the  affections,  and  the  will;  it  is  the 
composite  act  of  the  entire  soul  Godward,  as  to- 
ward its  Maker,  Redeemer,  and  final  Judge.  The 
divine  Saviour  whom  we  offer  to  the  heathen 
world  is  "  the  new  Creator  of  the  profoundest  ex- 
perience of  the  human  soul."  If  these  considera- 
tions are  true,  Christianity  stands  in  the  supreme, 
absolutely  unique  place  among  religions.  Chris- 
tianity is  related  to  other  systems  chiefly  by  its 
dissimilarities,  and  by  its  transcendence  of  them. 
Doubtless  in  the  realm  of  biology,  and  in  other 
departments  of  the  physical  universe,  and  of 
mere  historical  ongoing,  as  all  admit,  evolution  is 
a  method  of  the  Creator  in  working  out  the  forms 
of  things.  But  because  this  is  so,  we  must  not  be 
misled  into  supposing  that  it  is  God's  supreme, 
much  less  his  exclusive,  method  of  operation. 
The  critical  point  is  here :  granted  that  a  form 


128  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

of  the  evolutionary  idea — supposed  to  account  for 
all  religions — is  compatible  with  some  features 
of  the  Christian  religion,  as  it  is  historically  mani- 
fested, yet  when  it  is  claimed  that  God  himself 
cannot  and  does  not  transcend  evolution  in  the 
gift  of  his  Christ  to  the  world,  in  his  atoning 
work — which  is  really  cosmic  and  prior  to  all 
history — in  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  in  his 
power  to  forgive,  and  at  length  to  destroy  our  sin, 
and  then  to  sit  as  the  final  Judge  of  all  mankind, 
we  must  take  our  stand  and  forever  protest. 

The  "  historical  criticism,"  as  applied  by  the 
latest  form  of  rationalistic  polemic  against  Chris- 
tianity in  Germany,  and  now  also  widely  in  Eng- 
land and  in  this  country,  simply  means  that  Christ 
is  only  "  Jesus,"  the  natural  son  of  Joseph,  and 
entirely  excludes  his  superhumanness,  his  deity, 
and  absoluteness;  it  drags  him  down  to  the  plane 
of  other  teachers,  philosophers,  or  sages,  like  Con- 
fucius, Gotama,  or  Mohammed.  He  may  stand  a 
little  higher  in  the  scale  of  an  ethical  teacher, 
but  there  is  nothing  absolute  in  him.  He  is  not 
the  eternal  preexistent  Christ,  the  Being  deter- 
minative of  the  very  existence  and  destiny  of  all 
the  prophets  of  the  ages,  true  or  false. 

Besides,   whatever   evolution   there   is   in   the 


THE    FINALITY   OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 29 

world,  Christ  is  its  eternal  cause.  He  himself  is 
neither  its  subject  nor  victim.  He  is  its  almighty 
enabler.  The  cause  is  not  the  creature  of  his 
own  method. 

Says  Forsyth  in  substance :  "  The  Christ  who 
is  degraded  from  his  absolute  and  final  place,  re- 
duced to  a  mere  stage  or  phase  of  God's  revela- 
tion, can  be  outgrown,  however  high  in  the  scale 
of  the  creature-world  you  may  place  him.  To 
make  Christ  less  than  the  eternal  Creator,  there  is 
no  foe  to  the  Bible  Christianity  the  equal  of  this." 

When  men  make  Christ  less  than  the  eternal 
Creator,  they  rule  him  out  as  God's  final  revela- 
tion. And  '*  when  Christ's  finality  is  gone,  Chris- 
tianity is  gone,  and  the  philosophy  foisted  into  its 
place  is  another  kind  of  religion  altogether." 
Christianity  is,  as  Prin.  P.  T.  Forsyth  puts  it, 
more  than  "  evolution  raised  to  spiritual  pitch." 

2.  Christianity  bears  the  marks  of  finality,  also, 
as  respects  the  nature  of  its  central  message,  its 
unique  message.  In  brief  it  is  this,  that  the  whole 
world  in  Christ  has  been  adjudged  to  a  new  form 
of  probation.  This  form  of  probation  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  working  of  the  new  juvenile 
court,  as  represented  by  Judge  Lindsey  of  Den- 
ver.    The  peculiarity  of  this  court  is  that,  inas- 

T 


130  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

much  as  it  has  to  do,  not  with  confirmed  criminals, 
but  with  children  who  have  slipped  into  petty 
transgression  through  youthful  impulse,  they 
shall  not  be  sent  to  prison  outright,  but  put  under 
a  temporary  probation  of  friendly  help  and  good- 
will. While  the  judge  retains  his  jurisdiction 
over  the  transgressor,  the  child,  still  being  under 
arrest,  yet  he  is  also  placed  under  a  regime  of  cor- 
rective love,  supplied  by  special  schools  or  other 
kindly  disposed  agencies,  tending  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  delinquent. 

A  "  probation  officer  "  is  also  appointed,  repre- 
senting both  the  court  and  the  friendly  agency. 
This  officer  is  in  solidarity  with  both  parties.  The 
antinomy  in  the  case,  the  conflict  of  the  opposing 
polarities  in  the  court  is  recognized.  The  princi- 
ple of  judicial  rectitude  is  still  intact,  while  its 
opposing  principle,  recovering  love,  is  also  opera- 
tive, and  in  the  court's  probation  officer  the  prin- 
ciple of  mediation  is  objectified.  The  opposing 
principles  represented  in  the  court  and  the  media- 
torship  are,  however,  brought  into  harmony 
through  sacrificial  love.  If  one  would  know 
through  what  crucial  sorrows  Judge  Lindsey  has 
passed  in  the  process  of  creating  and  maintaining 
his  court,  let  him  read  the  tale  as  recited  by  him- 


THE   FINALITY   OF   CHRISTIANITY  I3I 

self    in    "  Everybody's    Magazine,"    for    several 
months  since  last  October. 

The  self-incurred  sufferings  on  the  part  of  the 
judge  for  the  sake  of  the  cause  of  the  boys  he 
has  espoused  are  at  the  bottom  of  everything 
great  in  it;  and  the  moral  efficacy  of  this  court 
would  be  nil  if  that  crucial  experience  of  his  were 
wanting. 

The  principles  embraced  in  this  court  are  these : 
(i)   The  judicial  authority  on  the  bench  be- 
comes also  the  criminal's  redeemer. 

(2)  The  whole  status  of  the  criminal  is  that  of 
a  unique  form  of  probation  under  the  court.  This 
status  is  both  that  of  school  and  a  probation. 

(3)  This  court  concretely  and  visually  ex- 
presses itself  in  a  probation  officer,  or  mediator. 

(4)  The  moral  power  of  this  court  is  gained 
on  the  basis  of  voluntary  self-inflicted  sacrificial 
suffering  on  the  part  of  its  executive. 

(5)  This  court  has  its  hold  on  the  conscience 
and  the  love  of  those  whom  it  benefits,  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  public  judicial,  governmental  ex- 
pression of  principles  at  the  very  basis  of  the  con- 
stitution of  every  moral  being. 

No  private  individual  could  ever  gain  Judge 
Lindsey's  hold  on  the  criminal  classes  or  the  peo- 


132  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

pie.  Nor  could  any  similar  judge  who  had  not 
gone  through  Lindsey's  Gethsemane. 

Some  contend  that  the  matter  of  pardon  of  the 
sinner  by  God  is  a  purely  personal  matter.  By 
personal,  however,  is  meant  individual.  But  God 
is  not  a  mere  individual.  A  judge  cannot  pardon 
his  son,  simply  as  his  son. 

(6)  This  court  represents  a  way  of  pardon  that 
secures  two  values:  a.  It  does  not  legitimize  sin; 
b.  it  awakens  revolt  from  and  loathing  of  sin. 

One  particularly  bad  boy,  who  at  one  time 
gave  Judge  Lindsey  much  trouble,  on  being 
asked  one  day  by  his  mother :  "  How  is  it, 
Harry,  that  when  you  won't  be  good  for  me,  nor 
for  the  police,  you  will  be  for  the  judge?  "  The 
boy  replied :  "  Well,  maw,  you  see,  if  I  gets  bad 
ag'in  the  judge,  he'll  lose  his  job.  I've  got  to 
stay  with  him,  'cause  he  stayed  with  me." 

The  very  gamins  of  Denver  have  found  out 
that  it  is  only  as  they  stay  with  Lindsey,  that 
Lindsey  can  hold  his  job.  Their  obligation  to 
him  is  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  at  fearful  cost 
to  himself  the  judge  has  "  stayed  with  "  them,  ma- 
king common  cause  with  their  otherwise  quite 
helpless  selves.  I  wonder  if  we  poor  sinful  ones 
have  realized  sufficiently  in  what  a  profound  and 


THE    FINALITY   OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 33 

sacrificial  way  our  God-in-Christ  lias  "  stayed 
with  "  us  ?  And  it  is  only  to  the  degree  that  the 
moral  sense  of  mankind  realizes  how  he  has  made 
common  cause  with  it,  that  his  hold  upon  it  has 
been  strengthened  for  a  deeper  ethical  character? 
(7)  It  is  this  which  is  the  security  for  a  new 
spontaneous  righteousness.  At  one  stage  of  Judge 
Lindsey's  experience,  he  found  that  the  deputies 
who  were  depended  on  to  take  the  boy  under  ar- 
rest to  the  reform  institution  were  not  acting 
promptly,  but  instead  were  bunching  the  boys 
up  in  some  lockup.  This  was  bad  for  the  boys, 
and  the  judge  resolved  to  trust  the  young  crimi- 
nals themselves  to  go  voluntarily  without  official 
escort.  He  talked  to  them  kindly  on  all  occasions 
of  their  being  sent ;  told  them  that  they  could  run 
away  if  they  were  so  minded,  although  he  coun- 
seled them  loyally  to  go,  while  he  did  everything 
in  the  power  of  his  court  to  make  good,  strong 
men  of  them.  The  judge  testifies  that  of  over 
five  hundred  boys  sent  up  in  the  past  eight 
years,  only  five  have  failed  him,  whereas  during 
the  same  period  there  have  been  more  than  forty 
"  breakaways  "  who  have  never  been  found  again. 
God  is  working  upon  the  same  principle  to  get  us 
to  confess  judgment  and  receive  the  renewed  life. 


134  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

3.  Christianity  has  also  the  mark  of  finahty  in 
it,  from  the  fact  of  its  inner  power  when  put  to 
the  experiential  test. 

Everything  depends  on  our  moral  treatment  of 
Christianity.  Treated  rightly,  the  "  message  " 
becomes  more  than  a  "  message,"  even  a  trans- 
forming energy. 

In  his  celebrated  "  Thoughts,"  Blaise  Pascal 
makes  a  classical  utterance  which  should  be 
graven  deeply  on  the  mind  of  every  Christian 
teacher  and  minister.  It  concerns  the  central  mat- 
ter that  "  the  truth  of  Christianity  is  to  be  recog- 
nized even  in  the  obscurity  of  certain  truths  con- 
nected with  it."  Pascal  points  out  that  in  the 
method  of  God's  approach  to  men,  he  both  reveals 
and  conceals  himself.  "  Verily  thou  art  a  God 
that  hidest  thyself,  O  God  of  Israel  the  Saviour." 
"  The  Messiah  is  cognizable  to  those  who  truly 
and  with  the  whole  heart  seek  him,  while  he  is 
hidden  from  those  who  in  their  hearts  shun  him." 
God  could  have  contrived  a  religion  which  would 
inevitably  and  perforce  have  compelled  assent. 
To  have  done  this  might  have  been  easier  for  the 
mind  but  injurious  to  the  will,  and  to  the  moral 
nature  so  radically  dependent  on  the  will.  God, 
however,  had  before  him  as  a  chief  end  the  dis- 


THE    FINALITY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 35 

posing  and  training  of  the  will,  the  most  central 
element  in  man's  personality.  Perfect  intellect- 
ual clearness,  such  as  would  compel  assent,  would 
have  interfered  with  the  most  effectual  training 
of  the  will  and  of  the  moral  nature.  The  best 
religion,  therefore,  for  man  as  he  exists  in  his 
sinful  state  is  a  religion  ''  revealed  in  part  and 
obscured  in  part." 

With  whatever  degree  of  light  a  moral  being 
may  be  possessed,  the  treatment  which  he  accords 
to  that  light  will  always  determine  whether  that 
light  shall  increase  or  diminish.  We  may  depend 
there  is  always  sufficient  light  for  those  who  want 
the  truth,  and  there  is  always  obscurity  enough 
for  those  who  want  to  rid  themselves  of  the  truth 
in  the  interest  of  some  self-end.  And  there  is 
always  enough  light  to  render  those  indifferent  to 
the  truth  inexcusable  before  God. 

God  and  his  gospel  always  put  a  premium  upon 
him  who  cherishes  a  minimum  of  light,  and  who 
will  act  upon  it.  Those  who  are  ever  waiting  for 
the  maximum  of  light  are  really  moral  triflers, 
and  never  get  it.  On  the  contrary,  to  them  what 
measure  of  light  they  have  is  turned  into  dark- 
ness; inevitably  so.  And  "  if  the  light  which  is  in 
thee  be  darkness,  how  gfreat  is  that  darkness ! " 


136  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

The  message  if  acted  on  is  thus  always  self-au- 
thenticating— shines  in  its  own  light. 

Professor  Wenley,  professor  of  philosophy  in 
the  University  of  Michigan,  lately  gave  a  re- 
markable address  to  the  students  on  "  The  Way 
In."  He  affirmed  that  "  the  way  in  "  to  Chris- 
tianity is  Jesus'  way.  No  other  Lord  of  life  can 
be  trusted  safely.  "  This,"  said  he,  ''  is  Chris- 
tianity. The  way  to  the  sublime  worth  of  our 
existence.  If  any  among  you  doubt,  there  can  be 
but  one  reason,  you  have  not  tried  it.  I  beseech 
you,  young  men,"  pleaded  he,  "  with  the  promise 
of  the  future  upon  you,  with  the  destiny  of  the 
coming  generation  committed  to  your  care,  try  it. 
Attempt  this  idealism.  No  one  who  has  ever  done 
so  seriously  has  found  it  in  vain.  And  we  students 
of  an  older  growth  who  have  tried  it,  as  we  have 
followed  many  wandering  lights  in  the  course  of 
our  sinful  lives,  claim  not  only  a  right  but  a  duty 
to  tell  you  the  unvarnished  truth  thus  intimately." 
"  Among  the  meetings  in  the  university  seldom," 
says  an  observer,  "  has  a  more  simple  and  direct 
appeal  been  delivered,  and  its  effect  upon  the  men 
who  listened  was  treinendons/' 

This  line  of  teaching  to  which  Pascal  gives  ex- 
pression, and  Wenley  corroborates,  is  at  the  very 


THE    FINALITY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 37 

heart  of  everything  important  in  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  divinity  of  the  Christian  rehgion.  And 
it  differentiates  Christianity  from  every  other  re- 
hgion. It  marks  Christianity  as  the  one  rehgion 
which  bears  the  experiential  test.  For  this  rea- 
son also,  the  proof — the  final  proof  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion — is  of  the  deepest  possible  sort.  The 
fundamental  proof  of  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
as  Professor  Knox  of  Union  Seminary  in  his 
book  on  the  subject  says,  is  not  in  any  mere  in- 
tellectual or  logical  demonstration ;  it  is  in  the  life 
of  those  who  live  it. 

Christ's  religion  is  more  than  a  set  of  opinions, 
more  than  a  code  of  laws.  It  is  ever  an  advan- 
cing spiritual  realization.  Its  degree  of  perfection 
is  ever  a  flying  goal  because  with  every  attain- 
ment the  ideal  advances.  And  so  Christianity 
is  able  to  be  the  religion  of  all  men  and  for  all 
times.  In  its  very  nature  it  is  personal,  self-giv- 
ing love  for  the  benefit  of  others. 

Christ  works  out  in  experience,  substantially 
alike,  other  things  being  equal,  in  all  men  of 
every  race  and  everywhere,  as  does  rationality  in 
a  sane  mind.  Indeed,  as  one  has  said,  "  There  is 
no  rational  certainty  anywhere  that  is  entitled  to 
challenge  the  moral  certainties  of  the  redeemed." 


138  THE  TASK  WORTH  WHILE 

The  truth  is,  the  historic  fact  of  Christ  is  not  only 
historic  but  super-historic.  It  is  a  fact  which  also 
recreates  itself  in  the  multiplied  experiences  of  be- 
lievers, and  lives  on  in  them,  and  in  ever-widen- 
ing circles  reenacts  itself  in  the  growth  of  the 
church  in  all  lands,  as  time  moves  on.  When, 
therefore,  the  sum  total  of  the  ever-accumulating 
experiences  shall  have  been  wrought  out  in  life, 
when  all  the  renewed  in  all  time  shall  stand  forth 
manifested  in  the  completed  kingdom  of  God, 
then  will  have  been  wrought  out  the  final  and  ab- 
solute proof  of  the  one  and  only  religion  which  is 
itself  real,  and  is  itself  finality. 

To  summarize,  my  reasons  for  claiming  that 
Christianity  in  its  philosophy,  its  message,  and 
its  working  power,  is  finality  for  mankind,  are: 
That  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  a  redeeming 
God.  It  is  the  religion  of  a  suffering  judicial, 
vicarious  God.  It  is  the  religion  finding  historical 
and  supreme  expression  in  a  divine-human  per- 
son, the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  the  second  Adam, 
in  whom  the  whole  human  race  is  adjudged  to  a 
new  status  or  probation,  but  depending  for  the 
realization  of  its  intent  on  its  voluntary  accept- 
ance or  rejection.  It  is  the  religion  which  offers 
also  to  the  whole  human  race  not  only  pardon,  but 


THE    FINALITY    OF    CHRISTIANITY  1 39 

a  new  potential  heredity  in  Christ.  It  is  the  re- 
Hgion  best  adapted  to  work  in  the  soul  of  the 
sinner  a  personal  revolt  from  his  sin.  It  is  the 
religion  which  when  accepted  recreates  the  super- 
natural Christ  within  the  soul  and  gives  an  ex- 
periential assurance  of  its  own  indwelling  power. 
It  is  the  religion  w^hich  guarantees  in  providence 
a  sanctifying  relation  or  bearing  of  all  things 
which  may  occur  to  the  filial  believer  in  the  course 
of  his  earthly  life.  It  is  the  religion  which 
gathers  up  in  itself  whatever  of  truth  there  is  in 
all  other  systems,  and  is  free  from  their  defects 
and  falsities. 


LECTURE  VII 


THE  RESURRECTION  ERRAND  OF 
THE  CHURCH 


LECTURE  VII 

IT  is  a  striking  fact  that  the  promulgation  of  the 
Great  Commission  to  disciple  all  nations  was 
reserved  until  the  period  of  the  forty  days  follow- 
ing our  Lord's  resurrection.  Prior  to  this,  les- 
sons of  every  kind  were  taught  the  disciples. 
Jesus  was  chiefly  known  as  the  Teacher.  The 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  restated  the  entire  moral 
law.  He  taught  in  his  parables,  he  taught  on  his 
journeys,  he  taught  in  the  fields,  upon  the  sea, 
and  in  the  temple.  He  taught  the  philosophy  of 
his  entire  kingdom,  and  left  the  only  perfect  sys- 
tem of  ethics  the  world  has  ever  known. 

But  this  one  command  to  "  Go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature  " 
was  left  to  be  communicated  by  itself  and  under 
conditions  entirely  unique.  Hence  the  command 
to  evangelize  may  fittingly  be  called  the  resurrec- 
tion errand.  Let  us  first  observe  the  occasion  on 
which  the  promulgation  was  made.  The  period  of 
three  days'  sleep  in  Joseph's  tomb  was  over.  The 
new  Adam  had  committed  nothing  which  was 

143 


144  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

worthy  of  death.  The  death  he  died  was  the  vol- 
untary tasting  of  death  in  behalf  of  others;  and 
having  met  the  requirement,  ''it  was  not  possible 
that  he  should  be  holden  "  of  that  death.  He  was 
also  the  Prince  of  life,  and  so  he  came,  forth  risen 
forever,  "  the  first-fruits  "  as  well  as  archetype  of 
all  that  sleep  in  him.  The  angelic  herald  said  to 
the  women  who  had  come  early  to  the  sepulcher, 
"  He  is  not  here ;  for  he  is  risen  as  he  said  .  .  . 
and  go  quickly  and  tell  his  disciples."  But  as 
they  went  to  tell  his  disciples,  behold,  Jesus  him- 
self unexpectedly  met  them. 

A  few  hours  since  and  this  same  Jesus  was  in 
the  agonies  of  the  cross,  crying  out  in  his  ex- 
tremity, "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me?  "  But  now  here  he  is,  back  from  the 
other  world,  absolutely  unharmed,  and  bursting 
forth  in  the  salutation  of  measureless  joy  and 
triumph,  "  All  hail !  "  This  is  the  voice  of  the 
conqueror  with  authority  over  both  worlds — the 
first  note  of  the  "  Prince  of  life  "  to  our  world. 

In  the  art  gallery  of  Mr.  Wanamaker's  great 
store,  in  Philadelphia,  there  hangs  a  colossal 
painting,  entitled  ''The  Conquerors."  It  is  a 
representation  of  a  great  cavalcade  of  the  world's 
military  heroes,  moving  directly  toward  you  in 


THE   RESURRECTION    ERRAND  1 45 

triumphal  procession  through  the  center  of  the 
picture.  At  the  head  of  the  procession  and  in  the 
very  foreground  is  JuHus  Caesar,  with  a  chaplet 
of  laurel  about  his  brow,  mounted  on  a  powerful 
charger,  and  with  an  expression  of  quiet  strength 
in  every  feature.  At  his  left,  and  a  little  farther 
back,  rides  Alexander,  who  conquered  all  worlds 
in  sight,  and  wept  because  there  were  no  more  to 
win.  At  Caesar's  right  is  Attila,  king  of  the  Huns, 
with  features  rigid  as  steel  and  heartless  as  fate. 
Still  farther  back  we  discern  Napoleon,  his  chap- 
eau  drawn  low  over  his  forehead  and  every  fea- 
ture full  of  the  sense  of  "  The  Man  of  Destiny  " ; 
and  away  beyond  these,  receding  obscurely  into 
the  background  of  the  picture,  are  scores  of 
others,  men  of  similar  mold  and  temper,  who  have 
subdued  civilizations  and  overturned  dynasties. 
On  the  right  and  left  of  these,  on  the  broad  can- 
vas, are  the  trophies  of  the  victors — successive 
tiers  of  slaughtered  men  and  women,  lying  in 
heaps,  filling  the  great  proportions  of  the  picture 
like  a  succession  of  billows  of  the  sea,  ghastly  and 
horrible.  And  these  martial  men  who  ride  coldly 
on,  scarcely  wincing  amid  the  havoc  of  death 
which  they  have  wrought,  are  called,  forsooth, 
"  the  conquerors." 

K 


146  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

But  he  who  met  the  women  on  that  resurrec- 
tion morning  and  exclaimed,  "  All  hail,"  is  one 
who  has  power  to  make  all  dead  men  live,  and 
to  turn  the  very  tables  upon  the  realms  of  death. 
It  was  the  first  time  that  a  real  conqueror  had  ever 
trod  the  earth.  He  was  in  that  hour  the  Lord  of 
all  worlds,  holding  them  by  the  mastery  of  grace 
and  love. 

This  exclamation,  ^or^oire,'' All  hail,"  is  a  word 
of  composite  meaning;  it  is  the  simplest  word  in 
the  Greek  language  for  ''  rejoice."  This  note  of 
joy  is  the  first  note  of  Christ's  resurrection  life. 
He  had  a  right  to  use  it.  But  more,  this  word 
has  in  it  the  thought  of  ^'  greeting,"  indicative  of 
the  joy  of  contact  which  Christ  has  with  his  own. 
It  is  the  word  commonly  used  by  Paul  at  the  open- 
ing of  his  epistles  to  the  churches ;  this  word  also 
has  in  it  the  thought  of  "  God-speed,"  and  is  some- 
times so  rendered.  Christ  is  anticipating  the 
great  and  difftcult  enterprise  of  filling  the  world 
with  his  resurrection  power,  and  so  he  has  a 
God-speed  for  his  disciples  and  their  associates  in 
this  work. 

The  word  implies  "  congratulation,"  and  in  this 
sense  we  believe  it  to  be  regarded  in  this  saluta- 
tion, "All  hail."     Christ  is  congratulating  those 


THE    RESURRECTION    ERRAND  I47 

first  disciples  on  several  things  that  are  possible  to 
them,  since  he  has  risen  and  become  master  of 
both  worlds.  Jesus  congratulates  the  church  on 
the  new  message  it  has  to  tell;  or,  at  all  events, 
on  the  new  element  embraced  in  that  message. 
"He  is  risen,"  said  the  angel;  "go  tell  his  dis- 
ciples and  through  them  tell  all  men."  What  a 
dynamic  is  here  in  this  message,  "  He  is  alive  " ! 
It  throws  a  halo  over  every  funeral  scene,  and 
over  every  burial-ground  on  earth.  Contrast  your 
Christian  cemeteries,  the  gardens  of  the  departed 
in  a  Christian  land  like  ours,  with  the  somber, 
melancholy,  hopeless  depositories  of  the  dead  in 
heathen  lands  like  China,  for  example,  where  in 
the  environs  of  the  cities  the  dead  bodies  often  are 
simply  dropped  down  by  the  wayside  or  deposited 
in  public  places  in  great  plank  coffins,  and  left 
for  months  absolutely  unburied.  Heathendom  is 
a  land  of  extreme  death  and  darkness  everywhere, 
for  the  lack  of  this  element  which  in  the  gospel 
message  is  primary,  "  He  is  risen." 

Christ  is  congratulating  the  infant  church  also 
on  the  new  courage  that  is  possible  to  her  since  he 
hath  risen.  As  the  women  met  their  glorified 
Lord,  and  realized  that  he  was  really  alive  again, 
they  swooned  at  his  feet  in  a  great  fear,  face  to 


148  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

face  as  they  were  with  the  supernatural.  But  he 
said  to  them,  "  Be  not  afraid."  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  extend  this  utterance  over  the  entire  area  of 
human  contingencies  amid  which  the  disciples  of 
Christ  live  out  their  lives,  and  to  say  that  since 
Christ  is  risen,  since  he  has  entered  that  mys- 
terious other  world  and  returned  from  it  un- 
harmed and  triumphant,  he  brings  with  him 
power  to  cast  out  all  mortal  fear  concerning  any- 
thing and  everything  which  may  occur  in  human 
life  and  experience.  He  was  the  first  personage 
this  world  had  ever  seen  who  had  a  right  to  say, 
'*  Be  not  afraid  " ;  for  in  that  hour  he  had  poten- 
tially met  and  conquered  every  human  foe.  No 
dynamic  like  that  for  the  servants  of  Jesus  Christ ! 
What  is  it  that  hinders  and  hampers  in  all  our 
attempts  to  serve  God?  Is  it  not  fear,  mortal 
fear?  Why  do  men  and  women  so  shrink  from 
participation  in  the  great  cause  of  missions  to  the 
heathen  ?  Here  again  it  is  mortal  fear  that  comes 
in  and  hampers  all.  Fathers  are  afraid  that  God 
will  call  their  sons,  and  mothers  that  God  will  lay 
his  hand  upon  their  daughters  and  commission 
them  to  his  own  resurrection  errand  in  some  dis- 
tant land.  Men  of  business  and  of  fortune,  who 
have  self-chosen  ends  and  ambitions  to  serve  are 


THE  RESURRECTION   ERRAND  1 49 

afraid  of  the  cost  of  missions,  and  they  too  shrink 
back  in  cowardice.  Meanwhile,  over  all  this  chaos 
of  confessed  human  weakness  we  hear  the  divine 
voice  saying,  ''  Be  not  afraid."  And  it  is  only  in 
proportion  as  that  victorious  voice  is  heard  and 
obeyed  that  the  work  goes  forward.  Yet  this 
voice  can  absolutely  displace  all  fear.  The  history 
of  all  martyrdom  is  replete  with  the  demonstra- 
tion of  this  casting  out  of  fear. 

Christ  was  also  congratulating  the  church  on 
the  new  errand  that  now  awaited  them.  He  in- 
structed them  to  go  to  Galilee  unto  the  mountain 
which  he  had  appointed.  There  they  should  see 
him  and  he  would  tell  them  the  rest.  Wonderful 
to  relate,  while  the  world  doubted  and  while  the 
Roman  soldiers  were  spreading  abroad  the  false 
rumor  that  his  body  had  been  stolen  away  from 
the  sepulcher,  these  same  eleven  disciples  were  on 
their  journey,  a  distance  of  not  less  than  sixty 
miles  northward,  that  they  might  prove  the 
fidelity  of  Him  who  had  summoned  them.  Coming 
to  the  mountain  some,  indeed,  questioned  whether 
he  would  really  be  there;  but  as  they  journeyed 
on  to  the  spot,  suddenly,  Jesus  himself,  true  to 
his  word,  appeared  and  exclaimed,  "  All  authority 
hath  been  given  unto  rne  in  heaven  and  on  earth ; 


150  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

go  ye  therefore  " — because  I  am  empowered  as 
I  could  not  have  been  prior  to  my  resurrection  for 
this  enterprise — "  and  disciple  all  nations." 
This  was  the  resurrection  errand. 

There  must  have  been  deep  reasons  for  reserv- 
ing the  promulgation  of  this  commission  until  this 
hour.     I  notice  three  considerations: 

I.  There  was  a  reason  which  concerned  the 
personality  of  Christ  himself,  the  author  of  the 
Commission.  There  was  such  a  thing  as  the  offi- 
cial perfecting  or  consummating  of  Christ  con- 
ceived as  the  new  head  of  the  race.  There  was  a 
sense  therefore  in  which  it  was  true  that  a  new 
kind  of  authority  over  mankind,  and  indeed  over 
all  things,  was  given  unto  Christ  after  his  resur- 
rection that  was  not  his  to  exercise  before  that 
event.  When  the  hour  came,  Jesus  said,  **  All 
authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
on  earth." 

Up  to  that  time  all  was  dependent,  contingent, 
on  Christ's  attainment  to  his  resurrection.  Not 
till  then  did  he  receive  his  official  authentication. 
This  is  graphically  and  prophetically  brought  out 
in  the  Second  psalm.  "  Yet  have  I  set  my  king 
upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion.    I  will  declare  the  de- 


THE   RESURRECTION    ERRAND  151 

cree ;  the  Lord  hath  said  unto  me  thou  art  my  Son, 
this  day  have  I  begotten  thee."  The  begetting  to 
sonship  here  does  not  refer  to  the  virgin  concep- 
tion, but  the  begetting  to  resurrection-being  which 
followed  the  crucifixion.  In  his  sermon  at  An- 
tioch  of  Pisidia,  Paul  teaches  that  of  David's 
"  seed  hath  God  according  to  his  promise  raised 
unto  Israel  a  Saviour  " — whom  indeed  the  Jews 
crucified — '^  but  God  raised  him  from  the  dead.  .  . 
and  hath  fulfilled  the  same  unto  us,  their  children, 
in  that  he  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again,  as  it  is  also 
written  in  the  Second  psalm.  This  day  " — the 
resurrection  day — '*  have  I  begotten  thee." 

We  have  a  striking  confirmation  of  this  in  con- 
nection with  our  Lord's  transfiguration.  Doubt- 
less in  that  hour  our  Saviour  was  resisting  a 
temptation  to  step  right  over  the  boundary  line 
between  the  two  worlds  and  go  back  with  the 
heavenly  visitants,  and  so  evade  his  cross.  Sup- 
pose he  had  yielded  to  this  temptation,  which 
doubtless  for  a  moment  glittered  before  him.  Ah 
me!  There  would  have  been  no  redemption. 
The  temptation,  however,  could  have  had  no 
power  over  him,  for  we  read  that  when  Moses 
and  Elias  appeared  there  was  but  one  single  theme 
which  engaged  their  converse.     "  They  spake  of 


152  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

his  decease,  his  i^odov  " — a  death  which  when 
voluntarily  welcomed  was  seen  to  issue  in  resur- 
rection— "  which  he  was  to  accomplish  at  Jeru- 
salem." It  was  when  this  acknowledgment  was 
made  by  the  Saviour,  that  having  come  into  the 
world  in  the  incarnation,  he  would  return  to  his 
original  glory  only  by  way  of  his  cross,  and 
through  his  voluntary  atoning  death  upon  it,  the 
Father  spoke  from  out  the  overshadowing  cloud, 
'*  This  is  my  Son,  my  chosen/'  ^  This  is  what  I 
mean  by  sonship — sonship  of  the  highest  type ;  the 
first  begotten  of  a  new  race.  Later,  he  said,  ''  I 
have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,  and  how  am 
I  straitened  until  it  be  accomplished  " — that  is, 
until  the  accomplishment  of  the  power  of  the 
cross  principle  issuing  in  resurrection,  Christ 
could  not  be  enfranchised  to  do  his  largest  work. 
Till  then  he  must  be  localized — shut  in,  confined ; 
after  that  he  could  send  the  pentecostal  fire  upon 
earth  in  a  new  way,  and  in  the  universal  sphere. 
It  was  as  a  partaker  of  flesh  and  blood  that 
Christ  exposed  himself  to  the  prince  of  this  world, 
and  yet  he  could  say  right  up  to  the  end,  "  The 
prince  of  this  world  cometh  and  hath  nothing  in 
me."      Satan   never   found   access   to   the   inner 

'  Revised  version, 


THE   RESURRECTION    ERRAND  1 53 

shrine  of  his  spirit.  If  it  had  been  otherwise, 
Christ  could  have  offered  no  redeeming  sacrifice. 
And  so  when  he  came  to  his  death,  he  ascended 
the  akar  not  as  in  any  sense  the  victim  of  Satan, 
but  as  the  Son  of  the  Father.  The  prince  of  this 
world  had  no  real  hold  on  him  at  all,  as  he  has  in 
part  on  some  good  men  and  martyrs  when  they 
die;  they  die  having  the  remains  of  sin  still  in 
them ;  for  them  that  '^  last  enemy "  is  not  yet 
fully  "  destroyed." 

Christ's  sacrifice  was  wholly  voluntary.  No 
man  took  his  life  from  him,  but  he  laid  it  down 
of  himself.  He  had  right  to  lay  it  down,  and 
he  had  right  to  take  it  again.  The  commandment 
he  received  of  the  Father  was  a  commandment 
not  merely  to  die;  it  was  something  more  than 
that,  far  different  from  that;  it  was  a  command- 
ment ''  to  lay  down  his  life  "  as  well  as  to  take  it 
again  in  resurrection  power.  Christ  might  con- 
ceivably have  been  overwhelmed  by  powers  out- 
side himself,  and  perished  as  martyrs  do  as  a 
victim.  But  he  was  not  so  overwhelmed.  His 
life  was  laid  down  out  of  free  will.  He  was  him- 
self all  the  while  the  sacrificing  Priest  of  a  volun- 
tary offering,  and  not  a  victim.  Hence  he  was 
the  Redeemer  and  enabler  of  all  mere  martyrs. 


154  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

When  his  suffering  was  complete  he  "  dismissed  " 
his  spirit.  In  this  respect  the  death  of  Christ  was 
entirely  unique,  and  thus  it  was,  through  such  a 
dying,  that  he  "  spoiled  principalities  and  powers," 
and  to  the  whole  universe  of  spiritual  intelli- 
gences "  made  a  show  of  them  openly."  It  was 
this  that  was  the  potential  destruction  of  Satan 
and  his  entire  empire  of  evil  in  behalf  of  mankind. 

As  Robertson  Nicoll  says,  "  In  the  case  of 
martyrs  there  is  an  active  obedience  and  there  is 
a  passive  obedience.  In  the  case  of  Christ,  the 
action  is  passion  and  the  passion  is  action,  and 
the  most  livingly  active  work  he  ever  accom- 
plished was  achieved  in  his  death.  His  death  was 
the  height  of  his  priestly  activity.  He  died  as 
the  priest  '  made  by  the  word  of  the  oath,'  as  the 
Son  who  is  '  consecrated — or  consummated — 
forevermore,'  and  therefore  is  the  cross  the 
judgment  of  this  world.  By  it  the  prince  of  this 
world  is  cast  out  and  spoiled  of  his  prey." 

A  further  reason  for  delaying  the  Commission 
till  Christ  was  risen  concerned  the  equipment  of 
his  church.  "  The  power  of  his  resurrection  " 
was  needed  by  them  as  well  as  by  himself.  The 
resurrection  was  more  than  an  event;  it  involved 
new  relations  of  every  sort  for  the  universe  of 


THE   RESURRECTION   ERRAND  1 55 

God,  objectively  speaking.  Then  subjectively, 
the  church  was  dependent  for  all  its  inner  life 
upon  what  flowed  into  it  from  its  living  Head. 
In  truth,  all  spiritual  life  is  but  the  impartation  of 
Christ's  resurrection  life  communicated  by  his 
Spirit  to  his  followers.  With  the  prodigious  en- 
terprise of  the  evangelization  of  the  nations,  about 
to  be  laid  on  this  handful  of  early  disciples, 
how  could  it  be  attempted  with  any  confidence 
before  those  disciples  should  feel  within  them  the 
stirrings  of  the  same  sort  of  life  as  that  which 
was  in  Christ  himself  as  he  stood  in  celestial 
majesty  before  them?  Christ  knowing  this,  ac- 
commodated himself  to  their  weakness,  and 
warned  the  disciples  not  to  attempt  the  task  be- 
fore the  time. 

The  whole  period  of  the  forty  days'  ministry 
between  the  resurrection  and  the  ascension,  was 
to  prepare  them  for  the  habitual  reception  of  their 
resurrection  life;  to  accustom  them  to  think  of 
the  intimacy  and  practicality  of  this  intercourse 
between  the  divine  Head  and  the  members  of  the 
one  living  organism.  They  were  to  tarry  in 
Jerusalem  until  they  "  should  be  endued  with 
power  from  on  high."  The  infilling  of  the  divine 
Spirit,  whom  Christ  would  send,  is  but  another 


156  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

way  of  saying  that  he  would  communicate  his 
own  resurrection  life.  Besides,  the  coming  of  the 
Spirit  was  all  dependent  on  the  resurrection. 
Had  the  resurrection  failed  there  would  have 
been  no  Pentecost  and  no  church.  In  the  upper 
room  they  were  to  wait  in  prayer  about  the 
promise  of  the  Father  until  the  climacteric,  dis- 
pensational  moment  came.  And  when  it  came 
how  changed  was  everything ! 

There  is  great  meaning  contained  in  that  little 
word  in  Luke  24  :  49,  "  until."  "  But  tarry  ye 
in  Jerusalem  until  ye  be  endued  with  power  from 
on  high."  This  moment  of  divine  enduement 
was  conceived  by  the  divine  mind  as  the  proper 
culmination  of  a  process  in  the  outworking  of 
Christ's  mission,  which  embraced  the  pre-cruci- 
fixion  life  of  Christ,  the  sacrificial  work  on  the 
cross,  the  resurrection,  ascension,  and  media- 
torial session  "  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
the  majesty  in  the  heavens."  This  culminating 
moment  when  the  Paraclete  should  come,  repre- 
sented by  the  word  "  until,"  was  a  moment 
which  gathered  into  organic  unity  all  the  pre- 
vious official  steps  in  Christ's  incarnate  career, 
and  completed  forever  the  conditions,  if  not  the 
apparatus,  for  successful  world  evangelization. 


THE   RESURRECTION   ERRAND  1 57 

If  this  were  not  so  there  would  have  been  no 
place  for  this  tarrying,  no  necessity  of  waiting  in 
the  upper  room.  When  the  climacteric  moment 
came,  however,  it  implied  a  new  filling  of  force, 
the  supreme  dynamic  for  the  world  enterprise. 
That  word  "  tarry  "  was  a  dispensational  word, 
and  the  word  "  until "  marked  a  dispensational 
crisis,  full  of  promise  for  the  new  era  which  dated 
from  it.  Henceforth,  the  word — the  word  for 
us — is  not  "  tarry  "  but  "  trust."  All  provision 
is  now  complete  for  the  most  intimate  relation 
with  the  living,  reigning  Christ,  beyond  anything 
the  church  as  yet  has  ever  asked  or  thought. 

A  further  reason  for  delaying  the  promulgation 
of  the  commission  to  disciple  heathen  peoples,  was 
found  in  the  state  of  the  heathen  themselves. 
"  Dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,"  nothing  less  than 
the  vitality  of  Him  who  had  conquered  death  in 
every  form  could  bring  them  into  new  being.  It 
would  have  been  folly  to  institute  a  propagandism 
among  the  heathen  for  their  recovery  to  God  until 
the  new  potencies  which  came  with  Christ's 
death,  his  resurrection,  and  the  gift  of  the  Spirit 
had  been  actualized  in  history  and  made  available. 
The  heathen  peculiarly  need  the  declaration  and 
manifestation  of  something  supernatural. 


158  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

In  the  story  of  the  gospel,  that  which  most 
deeply  impresses  the  heathen,  is  the  account  of 
Christ's  voluntary  sufferings  and  his  rising  again 
from  the  dead,  to  be  the  judge  of  all  men.  His- 
torically then,  Christ  must  be  a  risen  Lord  be- 
fore the  gospel  to  be  preached  can  have  the 
needed  power.  Then,  if  in  addition  to  this,  the 
herald  of  this  gospel  affords  evidence  that  he 
himself  is  spiritually  alive — is  as  one  who  has 
died  in  some  deep  sense  to  the  life  of  self  and 
impulse,  and  then  lives  again — the  power  of  his 
testimony  is  greatly  enhanced. 

It  is  historic  that  the  surest,  swiftest  way  the 
missionary  can  take  with  the  heathen  mind,  to 
awaken  in  him  the  most  fundamental  elements 
of  moral  appreciation,  is  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
cross  and  what  that  cross  implies.  Henry  Rich- 
ards, of  the  Congo,  testifies  that  in  his  first  efforts 
to  reach  the  heathen  at  Banza  Manteke,  he  began 
by  preaching  the  reality  and  the  severity  of  the 
moral  law,  hoping  thereby  to  awaken  a  sense  of 
sin  and  need.  But  he  soon  found  the  heathen 
were  becoming  hardened  by  it,  and  it  was  not 
until  some  years  after  that  he  changed  his  method. 
He  then  began  with  the  story  of  the  Christ  as 
given  in  Luke's  Gospel.     He  expounded  it  part 


THE    RESURRECTION    ERRAND  1 59 

by  part,  and  still  they  were  not  deeply  moved  until 
he  came  to  the  account  of  the  crucifixion  of  the  in- 
nocent Saviour.  Then  it  was  that  he  found  their 
hearts  began  to  melt  and  they  spontaneously  con- 
fessed their  sins,  and  their  hearts  broke  in  peni- 
tence as  they  discovered  that  it  was  their  sins 
which  brought  the  world's  Redeemer  to  that 
cross ;  and  soon  a  Pentecost  ensued.  Among  the 
Bechuanas  in  South  Africa,  a  missionary  was 
once  vividly  picturing  the  crucifixion  scene,  and  a 
native  who  never  before  had  heard  the  story  cried 
out  in  his  excitement :  "  Jesus,  away  from  there, 
that  is  my  place."  A  whole  theology,  and  one 
full  of  dynamic  is  incipient  in  that  experience. 

Missionaries  in  Greenland,  in  the  South  Seas, 
in  India,  China,  Africa,  everywhere,  have  had 
the  same  experience.  The  best  way  to  displace 
the  false  ideas  of  God  is  to  preach  Jesus  Christ 
as  his  true  revelation.  Conviction  of  sin  that  is 
keen  and  sure  comes  swiftest  when  men  have  been 
shown  the  record  sin — their  sin — has  made  in 
crucifying  the  Lord  of  glory. 

The  power  of  Livingstone  was  here.  "  I  shall 
open  up  a  path  to  the  interior  or  perish,"  was  the 
answer  he  gave  to  one  who  remonstrated  against 
his  encountering  so  much  danger.     This  was  the 


l60  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

voice  of  no  mere  traveler.  He  wrote  to  his 
father,  "  I  am  a  missionary,  heart  and  soul.  God 
had  an  only  Son,  and  he  was  a  missionary  and  a 
healer.  A  poor  imitation  of  him  I  am,  or  wish  to 
be."  To  the  London  Society,  which  shrank  from 
sending  him  so  far  inland,  he  replied,  "  Cannot 
the  love  of  Christ  carry  the  missionary  where  the 
slave  trade  carries  the  trader  ?  My  life  is  charmed 
till  my  work  is  done,"  was  his  characteristic  con- 
fidence. 

Of  the  saintly  Schwartz,  who  won  the  confi- 
dence of  all  Southern  India,  the  dreaded  Hyder 
AH  wrote  to  the  English  government,  *'  Send  me 
none  of  your  agents,  they  will  deceive  me;  but 
send  me  Schwartz,  the  Christian  missionary,  and 
I  will  receive  him." 

John  Williams,  of  the  South  Seas,  also  repre- 
sented in  his  marvelous  power  over  the  natives, 
a  striking  illustration  of  the  fearless,  victorious 
risen  life  of  his  Lord,  and  under  his  ministry 
scores  of  native  islanders  came  to  exhibit  the 
same  power. 

One  of  these  native  heroes,  Papeiha,  studied 
long  how  to  attack  and  win  the  island  of  Rara- 
tonga.  At  length,  however,  the  brave  native 
said,  as  he  leaped  from  his  boat  into  the  sea  to 


THE   RESURRECTION    ERRAND  l6l 

effect  a  landing,  ''  I  will  undertake  it  whatever 
the  peril,  whether  the  savages  spare  me  or  kill 
me;  Jehovah  is  my  shield;  I  am  in  his  hand." 
Another  native  hero,  a  disciple  of  this  same  island 
of  Raratonga,  Pao  by  name,  went  to  Lifu,  one  of 
the  Loyalty  group  of  islands,  which  had  been  a 
pandemonium  of  cruel  tyranny,  idolatry,  and 
cannibalism.  Approaching  the  island,  he  first 
fastened  a  New  Testament  to  his  head,  swam 
through  the  surf  and,  barely  escaping  the  spear  of 
a  savage,  as  he  came  ashore,  began  a  movement 
of  divine  power  which  has  never  ceased. 

Doctor  John  G.  Paton,  of  the  New  Hebrides, 
tells  of  his  almost  miraculous  deliverances  from 
the  savages  in  those  several  islands.  Again  and 
again  when  Paton  and  his  sons  had  bearded  death 
among  fierce  cannibals  in  their  strongholds,  they 
overcame  without  a  carnal  weapon  of  any  kind, 
simply  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  which, 
through  their  divinely  illumined  persons,  over- 
awed savage  ferocity. 

Without  a  vivid  apprehension  of  Christ  risen 
outwardly,  and  also  experienced  as  risen  within 
the  soul  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  endeavor 
of  the  missionary  to  evangelize  the  heathen  world 
is  worse  than  a  fool's  errand.     The  heathen  will 


l62  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

never  feel  the  peculiar  power  of  the  witness  in 
the  missionary  until  he  recognizes  that  the  servant 
of  God  who  confronts  him  is  a  man  who,  in  an 
important  sense,  has  been  dead  and  is  alive  again.^ 
At  a  certain  crisis  in  the  experience  of  Robert 
Moffat,  in  South  Africa,  a  chief,  with  about  a 
dozen  of  his  attendants,  one  day  came  to  the  mis- 
sion house  with  fierce  threatenings  and  hostile 
spears  in  hand,  to  take  the  life  of  Moffat  and  his 
co-workers.  The  chiefs  had  regarded  the  presence 
of  the  missionaries  the  cause  of  a  serious  drought 
that  had  come  upon  the  land,  and  they  were  ready 
to  pierce  Moffat  to  the  death  on  the  spot.  Mrs. 
Moffat  was  at  the  door  of  the  mission  house  with 
a  babe  in  her  arms  watching  the  crisis.  Moffat 
remonstrated,  "  We  have  indeed  pitied  your  poor 
people  in  this  time  of  drought,  and  we  are  truly 
sorry  for  you.  We  have  come  to  teach,  and  help, 
and  bless  you;  we  have  suffered  from  your  un- 
friendliness, but  we  have  scarcely  considered  it 
persecution.  We  came  prepared  to  expect  some 
trials.  If  you  are  resolved  to  rid  yourselves  of 
us  you  must  resort  to  stronger  measures,  for  our 
hearts  are  with  you."  Then  throwing  open  his 
waistcoat,  bearing  his  breast,  the  missionary  stood 

2  Rev.  5  :  6. 


THE   RESURRECTION   ERRAND  163 

erect  and  fearless.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  drive  your 
spears  to  my  heart,  if  you  will,  and  when  you  have 
slain  me  my  companions  will  have  more  light  as 
to  what  to  do."  On  hearing  these  words,  the 
chief  looked  at  his  companions,  remarking,  with 
a  significant  shake  of  the  head,  ''  These  men  must 
have  ten  lives  when  they  are  so  fearless  of  death ; 
there  must  be  something  in  immortality."  Here- 
upon the  opposition  ceased,  and  the  mission  went 
on  with  new  blessing  and  power.^ 

This  is  a  power  akin  to  that  which  in  a  fore- 
gleam  of  the  resurrection  was  on  Christ  in  the 
garden.  The  mob  came  to  arrest  him.  He  stood 
forth  fearlessly  among  them,  announcing,  "  I  am 
he  whom  ye  seek."  So  great  was  the  moral 
majesty  of  his  attitude  and  tone  that  the  mob 
"  went  away  backward  and  fell  to  the  ground." 
It  was  this  same  power  of  the  resurrection  life 
which  was  upon  Peter  at  Pentecost,  which  made 
Stephen's  face  shine  in  the  Sanhedrin,  which  was 
upon  Peter  and  John  in  the  temple  as  they  taught, 
and  in  the  prison  as  they  demanded  release ;  which 
was  upon  Paul  and  Silas  in  the  jail  at  Philippi. 
It  was  the  same  power  which  was  upon  Paul  in 

8  See  story  of  **  The  Power  of  the  Cross  Over  a  Hindu  Mob,"  in  the  life 
of  Dr.  Jacob  Chamberlain  of  India,  in  tract  published  by  Reformed  Church 
Mission,  and  quoted  in  my  "  How  Does  the  Death  of  Christ  Save  Us  ? " 


164  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

the  shipwreck  experience  and  at  Melita,  and  be- 
fore Caesar  at  Rome,  and  in  all  the  palace ;  which 
caused  even  his  bonds  to  turn  out  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  gospel. 

It  was  this  power  which  came  upon  the  mar- 
tyred band,  both  foreign  and  native,  in  China 
amid  the  recent  Boxer  troubles ;  the  power  which 
enabled  Horace  T.  Pitkin  to  write  home  his  calm 
request — to  write  it  while  the  mob  was  batter- 
ing down  the  door  of  the  compound — that  when 
his  baby  boy  should  become  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  he  should  be  told  of  his  father's  hope,  that 
the  son  might  come  out  to  that  same  cruel  China, 
still  divinely  loved  for  Jesus'  sake,  despite  all  its 
cruelty,  and  take  up  the  work  laid  down  by  the 
martyred  father.  There  is  a  love  stronger  than 
death;  it  is  this  resurrection  love  shed  abroad 
within  the  heart  of  the  believer  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  its  power  over  the  pagan  is  peerless. 


LECTURE  VIII 

THE  ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  MODERN 
MISSIONS 


LECTURE  VIII 

IN  speaking  of  modern  missions,  we  must  not 
be  understood  as  ignoring  the  work  done  pre- 
viously to  this  in  many  directions.  Europe  had 
long  been  at  least  nominally  Christianized. 

Some  of  the  most  vital  forces  in  that  realm  had 
flowed  over  into  the  new  world  of  North  Amer- 
ica. Indeed,  the  Christianity  in  America  and 
Canada  to-day  is  itself  the  product  of  a  great 
department  of  Christian  missions.  Nor  must 
we  overlook  the  overruling  of  the  American 
enslavement  of  the  blacks  in  the  South  as  the 
providence  of  God,  which  apart  from  man's  in- 
tention secured  the  Christianization  of  many 
Africans,  in  a  movement  which  in  part  compen- 
sated for  the  evils  of  the  slave  system. 

And,  of  course,  apart  from  the  work  of  medi- 
eval missions  in  general,  the  tremendous  move- 
ment of  the  Lutheran  Reformation  had  also 
mightily  moved  things  for  the  better  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  and  in  the  British  Isles.  But 
for  the  convenience  of  our  thought,  we  speak  of 

167 


l68  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

the  new  and  marked  effort  under  the  inspiration 
of  Carey  and  a  few  of  his  forerunners,  Hke 
George  Schmidt  and  Vanderkemp,  in  South  Afri- 
ca; Schwartz,  Ziegenbalg,  and  Plutschau  among 
the  Tamils  of  South  India ;  Eliot  and  Brainerd  in 
North  America,  and  Egede  and  Beck  in  Green- 
land, as  the  inauguration  of  modern  missions — 
missions  seeking  to  compass  the  whole  earth. 

It  will  help  us  in  estimating  the  victories  of 
a  little  more  than  the  past  one  hundred  years, 
to  take  a  glance  at  the  state  of  the  world  in 
1800  and  a  few  years  preceding,  say  from  1650 
to  1750,  the  time  of  Schwartz.  Yet  it  was  from 
Carey's  time,  1792,  that  this  new  conception  of 
missions,  apart  from  the  work  of  a  few  chap- 
lains among  European  colonists  in  India,  began 
to  recognize  the  obligations  of  the  church  on 
the  basis  of  the  Great  Commission  alone,  to  un- 
dertake the  evangelization  of  the  entire  pagan 
world.  Carey  was  the  great  pioneer  in  driving 
home  to  the  church  this  duty. 

Just  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Europe,  while  nominally  Christian,  had 
become  fearfully  corrupted  in  the  south  and  icily 
cold  in  the  north. 

Asia  was  wholly  pagan  or  Mohammedan,  save 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF   MODERN    MISSIONS      1 69 

as  there  were  a  few  Armenians  and  Nestorians  in 
Eastern  Turkey  and  Persia.    In  Bible  lands  Islam 
was  everywhere  dominant.     In  India  there  was 
only  the  Tamil  mission,  under  Schwartz  and  Zie- 
genbalg.     Carey  had  just  settled  in  Danish  Ser- 
ampore,  because  the  British  flag  in  India  was  not 
permitted  to  shelter  him.    In  China  practically  all 
was  closed  except  as  scattered  bands  of  mission- 
aries from  Rome  had  found  entrance.    Japan  and 
Korea  were  hermetically  sealed  against  foreign 
emissaries  of  any  kind.   Africa  was  a  mere  figure 
on  the  map.     Australia  was  known  only  by  its 
coast  line,  although  there  was  a  British  convict 
settlement  located  within  it,  presumably  because 
it  was  so  distant  from  all  civilization.    The  islands 
of  the  Pacific  as  fields  of  missionary  activity  were 
just  being  thought  of,  with  Tahiti  in  the  fore- 
ground.     South    America,    although    nominally 
Christianized,  was  in  the  depths  of  superstition. 
A  few  Moravians  had  gone  to  Greenland.     The 
English  Baptists  and  Methodists  were  beginning 
work  in  Jamaica. 

Before  1792  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
Christian  Knowledge  and  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  were 
the  only  two  missionary  societies  in  existence, 


170  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

both  English.  The  former  financed  the  work  of 
Ziegenbalg  and  Schwartz,  but  the  missionaries 
themselves  were  German  Lutherans.  The  latter 
society  supplied  chaplains  and  school-teachers  for 
British  colonists  only.  Then  came  on  the  Eng- 
lish Baptist  Society,  with  Carey  as  its  pioneer,  in 
1792.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  of  the 
English  Established  Church  followed,  but  for  a 
long  time  there  was  not  an  offer  of  a  single  mis- 
sionary. Then  came  the  London  Missionary  So- 
ciety, which  sent  Vanderkemp  to  South  Africa 
and  began  its  work  in  the  Tahiti  Islands.  The 
Wesleyan  Society  was  not  yet  organized,  and 
the  American  Methodists — immensely  aggressive 
in  America — had  yet  done  nothing  abroad.  Two 
small  Scotch  societies  were  apparently  failing  in 
West  Africa.  Germany  and  Denmark  as  yet  had 
no  general  organizations.  The  Moravians  were 
a  shining  exception.  They  had  sent  men  to  the 
Eskimos,  to  the  Hottentots,  and  to  the  Negroes 
of  Central  America.  Eliot  and  Brainerd  had 
been  at  work  among  the  Indians  in  America,  but 
had  no  immediate  successors.  All  the  present 
work  of  the  leading  mission  Boards  was  yet  in 
the  future,  and  yet  this  was  eighteen  centuries 
after  the  ascension  of  our  Lord. 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      I71 

If  the  reader  would  care  to  trace  these  succes- 
sive stages  of  advance  of  work  in  the  last  century, 
he  would  do  well  to  consult  the  great  paper  read 
by  Eugene  Stock,  of  England,  at  the  Ecumenical 
Conference  in  New  York  in  1900.  In  that  paper 
Mr.  Stock  divided  the  century  into  four  quar- 
ters, grouping  the  achievements  of  each  twenty- 
five  years  by  itself,  thus  enabling  his  hearers  more 
easily  to  grasp  in  its  real  unity  the  specific  accom- 
plishments. In  the  first  quarter  we  may  with  Mr. 
Stock  recognize  the  steps  of  progress,  especially 
from  1804  to  181 7.  In  1804  several  great  Bible 
societies  came  into  existence.  These  were  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  Scottish 
Society,  and  the  American  Bible  Society.  The 
mighty  adjuncts  which  these  agencies  have 
proved  to  be  can  be  appreciated  only  by  one  who 
has  traced  the  translation  and  publication  work 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  so  many  lands.  With- 
out the  work  of  these  societies  the  accomplish- 
ments of  the  great  pioneers  in  all  lands  would 
have  been  very  ephemeral. 

In  181 1  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions — offspring  of  the  Haystack 
Prayer  Meeting  in  Williamstown,  Mass. — came 
into  being,  and  its  work  has  moved  on  in  power 


1/2  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

ever  since.  In  1812  the  five  first  missionaries 
sent  out  by  the  Board  to  Calcutta  were  forbidden 
to  land  in  that  city,  an  event  which  directly  led 
to  the  opening  of  Burma  under  Judson  and  Rice. 
Offspring  of  this  society  came  the  Baptist  Tri- 
ennial Convention  of  the  United  States,  organ- 
ized in  Philadelphia  in  18 14,  under  the  guiding 
hand  of  about  thirty  devoted  men,  having  their 
residence  in  representative  cities  from  Massa- 
chusetts to  Georgia.  The  immediate  occasion 
of  their  organization  was  to  plan  for  the  sup- 
port of  Adoniram  Judson,  who  had  gone  out  to 
India  under  the  American  Board  as  a  Congre- 
gationalist,  but  who  had  adopted  Baptist  views. 
This  was  the  great  outstanding  event  which 
moved  the  scattered  Baptist  people  throughout 
this  country  to  begin  to  take  shape  as  an  or- 
ganized religious  body. 

In  1 82 1  the  Protestant  Episcopalians  both  in 
England  and  America  began  more  aggressive 
mission  work.  Meanwhile  it  should  not  be  over- 
looked, that  there  was  a  mighty  influence  in  the 
English  Parliament  which,  between  1807  and 
181 3  under  Wilberforce,  had  succeeded  in  bring- 
ing about  the  abolition  of  the  British  slave  trade, 
and  compelled  the  East  India  Company  to  give 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      1 73 

some  sort  of  hospice  to  Christian  missions  in  the 
regions  of  the  East  where  the  company's  influence 
had  been  so  dominant. 

Nor  must  it  be  overlooked  that  in  these  years 
certain  Enghsh  chaplains  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, like  Claudius  Buchanan  and  Henry  Mar- 
tyn,  had  gone  out  to  India,  and  were  doing  a  most 
valuable  work  with  the  civilian  class  w^ho  had 
gone  thither,  a  class  who,  ever  since,  have  been 
the  promoters  and  public  helpers  of  the  great 
missionary  enterprise  in  the  East. 

The  stimulating  force  behind  these  chaplains 
was  the  revered  Charles  Simeon,  of  Cambridge, 
England,  whose  influence  in  this  regard  entitles 
him  to  be  considered  as  one  of  the  great  unmitred 
bishops  of  the  modern  church. 

In  1807  Robert  Morrison  went  to  China,  borne 
in  an  American  ship  for  lack  of  sympathy  in  Eng- 
land, and  began  his  herculean  operations  in  the 
Middle  Kingdom.  He  wrought  to  the  end — 
over  thirty  years — leaving  but  few  converts,  but 
he  left  masterpieces  of  literary  achievement  in 
the  compilation  of  his  great  Chinese  dictionary 
and  his  translation  of  the  Scriptures. 

In  1 814  Samuel  Marsden,  soon  followed  by 
Henry  and  William  Williams,  all   Englishmen, 


174  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

had  been  sent  out  by  the  Church  Missionary  So- 
ciety to  New  Zealand.  There  they  labored  among 
Maori  cannibals,  and  their  work  was  so  blessed, 
that  eventually  the  larger  portion  of  those  people 
were  Christianized;  at  least  the  whole  race  came 
under  Christian  instruction  in  the  course  of  half 
a  century. 

John  Williams  had  been  sent  out  to  the  South 
Seas,  in  1817,  by  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
and  up  to  the  end  of  his  life,  which  terminated  in 
martyrdom  while  landing  upon  a  hostile  island, 
he  made  twenty-two  evangelistic  voyages  among 
many  islands  of  the  Pacific. 

In  1817  also,  Robert  Moffat  had  gone  to  Af- 
rica and  wrought  mightily  among  Hottentots,  and 
especially  among  the  Bechuana  people.  In  our 
time  it  can  scarcely  be  realized  how  many  dis- 
couragements attended  the  new  work  in  this 
first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Passing  to  the  second  quarter,  a  strong  empha- 
sis began  to  be  placed  on  the  value  of  native 
workers.  The  effect  of  hostile  climates  had  re- 
vealed the  difficulties  of  Western  missionaries  in 
preserving  health.  It  is  said  that  in  1826,  in 
West  Africa,  so  many  workers  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  had  been  cut  down  by  disease  that 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      1 75 

only  fourteen  out  of  seventy-nine  workers  who 
had  gone  out  continued  to  Hve.  This  reahzation 
prompted  societies  to  create  mission  schools  with 
the  direct  view  of  raising  up  native  workers.  The 
simpler  races  in  heathen  lands  in  this  period  were 
wonderfully  reached.  This  was  true  in  South 
Africa  and  in  numerous  groups  of  Polynesian 
Islands.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  were  occupied  by  the  American  Board, 
and  Fiji  by  the  Wesleyans  of  England.  Mada- 
gascar also  was  entered  with  varying  fortunes 
for  the  cause,  but  the  results  on  the  whole  were 
most  glorious.  The  Negroes  in  the  West  Indies 
w^re  won  by  thousands.  The  Tamils  of  South 
India  and  the  Karens  of  Burma  were  also  brought 
in  in  crowds. 

It  was  in  this  quarter  that  the  Scotch  colleges 
in  Calcutta,  Bombay,  and  Madras  were  coming 
into  being  under  the  work  of  Duff,  Wilson,  and 
Miller,  foremost  men  in  their  time.  It  was  in 
this  quarter  also  that  three  great  societies  in  Ger- 
many, known  as  the  Basel,  Berlin,  and  Leipsic 
Societies,  came  into  being.  The  American  Pres- 
byterians, Methodists,  and  Baptists  all  became 
most  aggressive  in  India;  the  Presbyterians  in 
Persia  and  Syria  also.    East  Africa  was  opened 


176  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

by  Doctor  Krapf,  the  real  forerunner  of  Mackay 
and  his  effective  successors  in  Uganda,  where  one 
of  the  greatest  missions  of  modern  times  has  since 
been  developed.  -  Regions  lying  north  of  the  Gulf 
of  Guinea,  in  Liberia,  and  the  Niger  country  were 
also  occupied. 

Coming  to  the  third  quarter,  following  the  re- 
markable Treaty  of  Nanking  and  the  close  of  the 
Opium  War  in  1842,  five  treaty  ports  in  China 
were  opened,  and  twelve  missionary  societies  soon 
began  work.  The  China  missions,  however,  up 
to  this  time  had  been  only  in  their  infancy.  There 
were  scarcely  a  score  of  converts ;  the  main  prog- 
ress in  that  mission  has  been  within  fifty  years. 

In  Africa  the  following  missions  have  been 
started  since  1850:  the  Niger,  the  Congo,  the 
Zambesi,  the  Nyassa,  the  Tanganyika,  the  Ugan- 
da, and  the  Livingstonia,  not  to  mention  others 
in  North  Africa. 

Up  to  this  time  there  was  no  mission  in  Japan, 
nor  in  Korea,  nor  North  Guinea,  nor  in  Mela- 
nesia. The  Church  Missionary  Society  started 
its  effective  work  among  the  North  American 
Indians  in  the  far  west  of  Canada,  and  in  In- 
dia the  Punjab,  the  Afghan,  the  Kashmir,  the 
Oudh,  the  Rajputana    the  Santal,  and  the  Gond 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF   MODERN   MISSIONS      \JJ 

missions  were  all  formed.  Up  to  this  time  medi- 
cal missions  were  scarcely  thought  of.  There 
were  practically  no  strictly  theological  schools, 
and  there  was  little  or  no  native  organization. 

The  third  quarter  opened  with  the  great  influ- 
ence of  Sir  Henry  and  Sir  John  Lawrence,  im- 
portant officers  of  the  new  British  government 
in  India.  Messrs.  Newton  and  Forman,  promi- 
nent American  Presbyterian  missionaries,  began 
work  north  of  the  Sutlej  River.  Sir  Herbert  Ed- 
wardes  also  lent  great  help  to  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions in  northwest  India.  He  was  Commissioner 
of  Peshawur,  an  Afghan  city,  and  he  is  ever  to 
be  remembered  for  his  notable  reply  to  some  who 
censured  his  aggressive  efforts  on  Christian  lines 
for  the  people  of  India.  He  said :  **  India  was 
given  to  England  for  missions  to  souls  more  than 
to  the  minds  or  bodies  of  men,  and  it  is  safer  for 
us  if  we  do  our  duty  than  if  we  neglect  it."  At 
all  events,  the  movements  we  have  just  spoken  of 
in  the  Punjab,  pioneered  by  such  men,  resulted  in 
making  the  province  the  most  peaceful  and  power- 
ful in  India.  It  also  resulted  that  when,  seven 
years  afterward,  the  Sepoy  Rebellion  broke  out, 
the  Punjab  was  at  the  front  helping  to  save  India 
to  the  British  and  to  Christian  civilization. 


178  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

In  the  third  quarter,  and  especially  following 
the  Indian  mutiny  in  1856,  missions  spread  rapidly 
in  all  parts  of  that  great  empire.  In  this  quar- 
ter progress  in  China,  while  slow  at  first  and  se- 
riously embarrassed  by  the  opium  war  in  1857- 
1858 — a  chapter  to  the  great  discredit  of  Chris- 
tian England — yet  began  to  take  on  new  strength 
and  volume.  The  interior  was  gradually  opened, 
and  especially  through  the  great  influence  of  the 
veteran  Griffith  John,  of  Hankow,  still  living. 
Bishop  Moule,  of  Hangchow,  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  China  Inland  Mission  under  the  apos- 
tolic Hudson  Taylor,  work  in  China  became  most 
aggressive.  The  China  Inland  Society  has  now 
(1910)  about  eight  hundred  missionaries  under 
its  direction,  really  thousands  of  native  workers, 
and  they  are  operating  in  every  province  of  the 
empire.  The  other  societies  which  have  more  fully 
supplemented  their  active  evangelization  by  the 
organization  of  schools,  colleges,  and  hospitals 
have  nobly  sustained  the  work  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  which  had  so  bravely  led  the  way,  and 
in  turn  the  Inland  Mission  has  helped  all  to  be 
more  aggressive. 

It  was  in  1854  that  the  American  Commodore 
Perry  opened  Japan;  Liggins  and  Williams  of 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      1 79 

the  American  Episcopal  Society,  and  Hepburn, 
Brown,  and  Verbeck,  Presbyterians,  struck  deep 
the  roots  of  their  influence  in  that  empire.  The 
work  of  Hepburn  as  a  translator  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  of  Verbeck  as  an  adviser  to  the  young  nobles 
of  Japan  and  promulgators  of  the  new  educational 
system  of  the  empire,  can  scarcely  be  exaggerated. 

In  1868  came  the  great  revolution,  when  the 
Shoguns  handed  over  their  imperial  power  to  the 
Mikado,  now  brought  out  of  his  long  seclusion  of 
centuries,  and  Japan  entered  upon  its  marvelous 
modern  career.  It  adopted  Western  civilization 
in  a  way  that  was  startling  to  the  nations,  and  in 
1873  its  historic  proclamation — bulletin  boards — 
against  Christianity  since  the  time  of  Xavier, 
prevailing  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  was 
abolished.  The  American  churches  have  had  a 
principal  share  in  the  active  missionary  work  of 
this  empire. 

In  this  third  quarter  of  the  century  there  were 
some  great  and  significant  martyrdoms.  For 
example,  that  of  Bishop  Patteson  in  the  South 
Seas,  and  Bishop  Hannington  on  his  way  to 
Uganda,  the  Gordon  brothers  on  their  way  to 
the  South  Seas,  Volkner  in  New  Zealand,  and 
many  in  Madagascar.    It  was  during  this  quarter 


l80  THE  TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

that  Livingstone  was  making  such  headway  in 
pioneering  the  work  of  Africa.  The  work  of 
Burton,  Speke,  and  Grant,  who  discovered  the 
great  interior  lakes  of  Africa,  inspired  by  Krapf, 
was  also  wrought  out.  Slave  outrages  became 
rampant  under  Mohammedan  influence.  Then 
came  Stanley,  lending  great  encouragement  to 
Mackay  in  Uganda,  the  Baptists — English  and 
American — taking  up  the  work  on  the  Congo,  and 
other  societies  beginning  active  work  in  Africa. 
The  work  of  men  like  Bishops  Horsden,  Bompas, 
and  Ridley,  and  that  of  William  Duncan  upon 
the  shores  of  the  far  northwest  of  Canada,  and  of 
Metla-katla,  followed  an  enterprise  in  which  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  has  been  bestowing  as 
much  as  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  year  on 
Canadian  Indians. 

This  was  a  period  of  rapid  progress  in  all  parts 
of  India,  among  hill  tribes  and  plains  people; 
large  accessions  came  from  the  non-caste  peoples, 
such  as  the  Telugus  and  Tamils  of  South  India, 
and  in  Oudh  under  Bishop  Thoburn.  Eurasian 
work  under  the  same  great  leader.  Doctor  Old- 
ham and  others,  at  Singapore,  in  Burma,  and  else- 
where was  most  successful. 

With  the  fourth  quarter  came  an  immense  ad- 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      l8l 

vance  of  missionary  interest  in  England.  The 
Moody  campaigns  ranging  from  1874  to  1884 
in  Britain  had  immense  influence.  Out  of  that 
influence  the  Mildmay  Conference  and  the  Kes- 
wick Convention  developed  great  power,  al- 
though Keswick  itself  for  a  time  excluded  the 
subject  of  missions.  Nor  did  Mr.  Moody  make 
a  specialty  of  foreign  missions;  he  was  always 
a  great  and  strong  evangelist  for  work  imme- 
diately at  hand,  and  especially  in  the  great  cities, 
later  in  colleges  like  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and 
Edinburgh.  Mr.  Moody  scarcely  intended  the 
stimulation  of  candidates  for  foreign  mission 
fields,  but  in  1885  the  group  of  seven  foremost 
students  and  athletes  of  Cambridge,  and  connected 
with  prominent  families,  were  stirred  up  as  a  re- 
sult of  his  work  to  offer  themselves  to  the  China 
Inland  Mission,  and  they  were  sent  to  China. 
All  England  wondered  at  this  expression  of 
Christian  zeal,  but  undoubtedly  it  was  one  of  the 
outstanding  missionary  impulses  of  the  century, 
scarcely  second  to  that  of  Charles  Simeon  of  Cam- 
bridge, a  century  earlier. 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  organized 
at  Northfield,  Mass.,  was  a  further  outgrowth  of 
Mr.  Moody's  vast  influence,  and  it  has  affected 


l82  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

the  world  in  all  parts,  growing  in  volume  from 
year  to  year. 

Special  missioners  sent  out  from  America  and 
England,  such  as  Dr.  George  F.  Pentecost,  Dr. 
John  Henry  Barrows,  Dr.  A.  M.  Fairbairn,  and 
Dr.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  brought  contributions 
of  great  value  to  the  far  East.  The  friendly  atti- 
tude of  governments,  monarchs,  and  presidents 
brought  its  contribution.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work, 
and  work  for  young  women  also  developed 
rapidly,  and  educational  work  after  the  pattern 
of  Western  ideals  grew  apace.  In  Egypt,  Syria, 
and  Turkey,  and  even  Arabia,  there  was  new 
promise.  Mohammedan  fields  were  less  impene- 
trable than  formerly. 

With  the  American  war  with  Spain  came  the 
occupation  of  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  and  the  Philip- 
pine Islands;  and  last  of  all  there  emerged  the 
Layman's  Missionary  Movement,  one  of  the  most 
significant  expressions  of  the  new  missionary 
conscience  of  our  times. 

In  home  mission  fields  the  work  upon  incoming 
European  foreign  peoples  assumed  enormous  pro- 
portions. The  education  of  freedmen  in  the 
South  became  one  of  the  features  of  American 
Christian  life.    North  American  Indians  began  to 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      1 83 

welcome  the  gospel  in  a  new  way,  and  even 
Asiatics  coming  to  our  shores  were  brought 
widely  under  Christian  influence.  To-day  there 
is  a  total  of  foreign  missionary  societies  in  the 
world  of  four  hundred  and  fifty,  and  if  we  add 
the  woman's  auxiliary  societies  the  number  would 
be  five  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  World  Student  Federation  and  the  enor- 
mous work  now  doing  in  colleges,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  its  widely  traveled  leaders,  is  a  palpable 
demonstration  of  the  power  for  mission  work 
which  has  seized  the  students  of  our  time.  Medi- 
cal mission  work  in  this  last  quarter,  and  until 
now,  has  made  advance  by  giant  strides,  and  the 
work  of  women,  with  their  great  organizations, 
their  fine  business  management,  and  their  numer- 
ous schools  in  all  mission  lands,  are  evidences 
of  a  new  era  which  no  previous  century  had  con- 
templated. The  Christian  Endeavor  Societies 
also  took  on  missionary  energy. 

If  we  were  to  summarize  by  statistics  we  might 
put  it  thus:  A  century  ago  nearly  every  country 
in  Asia  and  Africa  was  closed  to  the  gospel. 
Practically  there  were  no  Protestant  Christians 
in  heathen  lands,  now  there  are  twenty-two 
thousand  missionaries. 


184  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

Then  the  Bible  was  translated  into  only  sixty- 
five  languages  or  dialects,  now  it  is  in  more  than 
five  hundred. 

Then  a  few  thousands  of  dollars  a  year  were 
contributed,  now  there  are  twenty-five  million 
dollars.  Then  there  was  no  native  ministry,  now 
there  are  nearly  ninety-three  thousand  native 
pastors,  evangelists,  etc.  Then  there  were  no 
single  women  missionaries,  now  there  are  over  six 
thousand.  Then  there  were  just  a  few  mission 
schools  started,  now  there  are  over  thirty  thou- 
sand Protestant  schools  and  colleges.  Then  there 
were  no  mission  presses  or  agencies  preparing  and 
distributing  Christian  literature,  now  there  are 
over  one  hundred  and  sixty  publishing  houses 
and  mission  presses,  and  four  hundred  Christian 
periodicals  published  on  the  mission  field.  Then 
there  was  no  Protestant  denomination  as  such 
committed  to  missions  excepting  the  Moravians, 
now  every  respectable  denomination  has  its  mis- 
sions. Then  Judson,  Carey,  and  Morrison  had  to 
labor  for  from  seven  to  ten  years  for  a  first  con- 
vert, now  there  are  more  than  two  millions  of 
Protestant  Christians  in  heathen  lands,  besides  all 
that  have  passed  on.  Then  there  was  not  a  soli- 
tary mission  eleemosynary  institution,  now  there 


ACHIEVEMENTS   OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      1 85 

are  four  hundred  mission  hospitals,  and  over 
five  hundred  orphanages  and  asylums  in  foreign 
lands,  and  thousands  of  college  students  are  wait- 
ing to  maintain  and  extend  the  work/ 

All  these  movements,  indicated  by  periods,  were 
greater  than  any  statistics  can  indicate.  No  cen- 
tury since  the  first,  and  perhaps  that  of  the  Refor- 
mation, is  so  significant. 

Recalling  now  that  we  have  been  dealing  with 
missions,  not  from  a  mere  human  and  phenome- 
nal standpoint,  but  from  the  divine  and  cosmic  in 
a  situation  that  springs  out  of  the  interrelations 
of  God  and  man,  of  heaven  and  earth,  of  the  eter- 
nal and  temporal,  I  now  wish  to  glance  at  the  in- 
direct achievements,  the  by-products  of  mission- 
ary undertaking. 

When  our  fathers  began  the  work  they  sought 
direct  and  almost  exclusively  spiritual  results. 
That  they  were  blessed  in  this  the  preceding  sur- 
vey attests,  and  those  results  are  the  seed  corn 
of  incalculable  harvests.  Christ  has  said  concern- 
ing the  individual,  "  But  seek  ye  first  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  and  its  righteousness,  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  unto  you."    But  this  prom- 

1  See  "  Missionary  Review  of  the  World  "  for  January,  1909.  The  statistics 
given  at  the  late  Edinburgh  conference  do  not  differ  materially  from  these. 


l86  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

ise  is  just  as  applicable  to  the  corporate  church  or 
missionary  society.  I  now  note  a  few  of  many 
directions  in  which  the  grace  of  gospel  work  has 
overflowed  the  bounds  of  the  original  underta- 
king, viz.,  in  the  thirst  for  education,  and  uprising 
of  schools,  in  the  uplift  of  womanhood  and  child- 
hood, in  the  renewal  and  invigoration  of  the 
simpler  and  weaker  races,  in  the  thirst  for  free 
social  institutions  creative  of  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion, and  in  the  rebuilding  of  national  life.  The 
truth  is,  it  is  impossible  to  confine  the  vitalities 
and  leavening  power  of  the  gospel  to  mere  spirit- 
ual results.  Joseph's  vine  must  run  over  the  wall. 
The  uprising  of  the  layman's  movement  in  even 
the  secular  world  is  a  proof  of  this.  The  heads 
of  governments  begin  to  appreciate  it.  Presidents 
Taft,  Roosevelt,  and  public  men  like  Messrs. 
Bryan  and  Fairbanks,  all  have  committed  them- 
selves strongly  to  the  enterprise.  The  new  King 
of  Belgium,  the  present  Czar  of  Russia,  and  the 
various  Japanese  embassies,  all  like  the  Queen  of 
Sheba,  come  to  Solomon  more  and  more  to  gather 
his  wisdom  and  see  the  glory  of  his  temple.  The 
missionary  fathers  were  building  more  wisely 
than  they  knew,  and  the  world  itself  begins  to 
recognize  it. 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      187 

China  sends  her  students  to  America,  and  the 
governor  of  Sze-Chuen  placards  his  province  in 
the  interests  of  Christianity.  In  fine,  Christian 
missions  is  the  highest  form  of  work  in  the  world. 
The  supreme  energy  of  the  church,  and  the  one 
co-ordinating  and  harmonizing  factor,  represent- 
ing the  deepest  cosmic  movement  in  the  universe, 
it  is  the  overflow  of  the  heart  of  God  through  his 
most  cherished  and  elect  servants  to  bless  and  re- 
cover from  sin  the  whole  apostate  earth,  inclu- 
ding the  very  cosmos  itself,  that  it  may  bring  all 
things  back  and  home  to  God,  and  place  them 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  second  fall. 

The  early  missionaries  in  going  forth  saw  pri- 
marily spiritual  results,  but  all  sorts  of  enlarge- 
ment and  reconstruction  have  followed.  The 
development  of  education  and  the  creation  of 
numerous  colleges  and  secondary  schools  by  the 
thousands  have  come  among  the  by-products  of 
this  enterprise.  Among  educational  institutions 
of  note  that  will  stand  out  prominently  in  the 
memory  of  a  traveler  among  missions,  these  may 
be  mentioned  as  specimens:  The  Japanese  Im- 
perial University,  at  Tokyo,  with  nearly  four 
thousand  students;  the  great  Waseda  school  of 
Count  Okuma,  with  seven  thousand  students ;  the 


1 88  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

Doshisha  University  at  Kyoto.  In  China,  besides 
the  Imperial  University  at  Peking,  St.  John's 
College  at  Shanghai,  the  Nan  Yang  College  (na- 
tive), several  institutions  in  North  China,  and  two 
colleges  at  Foo  Chow.  In  India,  the  Scotch  col- 
leges at  Calcutta,  Madras,  and  Bombay.  A  con- 
vocation of  the  Calcutta  University,  an  institu- 
tion which  examines  for  degrees  students  from  a 
great  number  of  colleges,  forms  a  most  imposing 
occasion.  I  witnessed  one  of  these  in  1890.  The 
governor-general  Lord  Landsdowne,  presided 
with  great  circumstance.  The  address  was  by  Guru 
Das  Banerji,  the  chief  justice  of  the  high  court; 
several  rajahs  were  present,  decorated  with  coro- 
nets and  jewels.  The  five  or  six  hundred  candi- 
dates, in  cap  and  gown,  up  for  degrees,  and  the 
elite  of  the  city,  foreign  and  native,  filled  the 
largest  assembly  hall  in  the  city. 

In  the  Levant  of  course  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College  at  Beirut,  and  Robert  College  near  Con- 
stantinople, occupy  the  first  rank.  These  two  in- 
stitutions have  undoubtedly  paved  the  way  for  the 
reconstltution  of  such  countries  as  Turkey  and 
Bulgaria.  Institutions  like  the  Rangoon  Baptist 
College  and  the  Anglo-Chinese  Institution  at 
Singapore,  each  now  with  not  far  from  a  thou- 


ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    MODERN    MISSIONS      1 89 

sand  students,  also  stand  out  prominently  in  the 
writer's  mind.  Half  a  hundred  more  institutions 
of  high  grade,  representing  all  the  leading  mis- 
sion Boards,  might  be  named  would  space  permit. 

Socially  hopeless  peoples  reduced  to  mere 
fetish  worshipers,  have  been  raised  to  the  rank  of 
potencies  of  new  nations.  All  sorts  of  social 
conditions  for  the  better,  including  the  elevation 
of  women,  have  been  engendered.  The  very  na- 
tions have  been  reconstituted  as  the  result  of  the 
new  vitalities  in  thought,  life,  and  character. 
This  has  been  true  of  Japan,  of  India,  of  China, 
of  Russia,  and  various  parts  of  Africa,  and  the 
islands  of  the  sea,  including  Cuba  and  the  Philip- 
pines, so  that  in  the  estimate  of  many  the  by- 
products seem  even  greater  than  the  direct  prod- 
ucts, all  of  which  goes  to  confirm  the  Scripture 
benediction,  "  Blessed  is  that  nation  whose  God 
is  the  Lord." 

The  ultimate  purpose  of  redemption  is  to 
"  make  all  things  new,"  and  surely,  that  this 
apocalyptic  prophecy  is  in  process  of  rapid  ful- 
filment is  more  completely  proven  by  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  last  mission  century  than  in  any 
epoch,  of  many  times  its  length,  since  Constantine 
ascended  the  throne  of  the  Caesars. 


LECTURE  IX 

MISSIONS  AS  AFFECTED  BY  MODERN 
THOUGHT 


LECTURE  IX 

MODERN  missions  began  in  earnest  near 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
they  began  with  a  doctrine,  viz.,  that  the  fivefold 
Commission  of  Christ,  as  given  in  the  Gospels 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  Acts,  expressed  the 
real  will  of  our  Lord  concerning  his  church.  Pre- 
viously to  1792,  theological  thought  in  England 
was  divided  between  an  extreme  Calvinism  and 
Socinianism,  or  Unitarianism.  Carey  insisted 
that  the  attempt  to  evangelize  the  whole  pagan 
world  should  be  at  once  undertaken  on  the  sole 
authority  of  Christ's  last  Commission.  To  be 
sure  he  was  no  doctrinaire,  but  he  lived  his  the- 
ology on  that  point.  It  remained  for  his  great 
contemporary  Andrew  Fuller,  however,  to  pro- 
mulgate a  theology  which  accorded  with  Carey's 
practical  endeavor,  while  Edwards  and  others  in 
this  country  had  entered  upon  a  new  evangelical 
movement. 

Fuller  practically  revised  the  theology  of  Eng- 
land.   His  great  sermon  on  '*  The  Gospel  Worthy 

N  193 


194  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

of  All  Acceptation,"  and  his  broad  discussion  of 
the  consonance  of  human  free  will  with  divine 
sovereignty  afforded  a  theology  more  preachable, 
and  its  effect  upon  the  sense  of  immediate  mis- 
sionary obligation  in  the  general  Christian  mind 
was  epoch-making.  The  influence  of  Wesley  and 
Whitefield  also  was  taking  effect.  It  was  Fuller's 
theology,  also,  which  aroused  American  Chris- 
tians to  the  support  of  Judson  and  others,  and  ex- 
plains the  new  American  departure  especially 
among  Baptists.  The  first  and  greatest  secretary 
of  the  English  Baptist  Society  was  their  foremost 
theologian.  The  nexus,  therefore,  between  the 
achievement  of  Carey  and  Judson,  and  Fuller's 
thought,  was  deep  and  intimate.  This  has  al- 
ways been  so,  and  is  likely  to  be  so  despite  the 
superficial  dictum  that  doctrine  has  little  relation 
to  life. 

The  modernistic  notion  as  represented  by  the 
most  radical  school,  and  even  by  such  as  hold  that 
the  Great  Commission  should  be  eliminated  from 
the  New  Testament,  and  that  the  Christian  re- 
ligion itself  is  only  relative  to  all  other  religions, 
is  at  the  antipodes  in  doctrine  from  that  of  Carey 
and  Fuller.  For  the  moment  we  simply  call  at- 
tention to  the  fact.     It  remains  to  be  seen  what 


AFFECTED   BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  I95 

the  fruit  of  the  thought  of  such  modernistics  will 
be  after  another  century  shall  have  elapsed.  ''  By 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  Now,  between 
the  earlier  and  these  later  forms  of  interpretation 
there  are,  of  course,  numberless  shades  of  belief, 
none  of  which  can  be  claimed  as  fully  modern  or 
wholly  antique.  Of  course.  Fuller  himself  was 
relatively  immensely  modern  as  opposed  say  to 
Calvin  and  Gill;  the  latter's  limited  atonement 
and  the  sovereignty  in  God  which  was  presented 
as  arbitrary  and  fatalistic,  and  even  the  counsel  of 
Ryland  to  Carey,  ''  Sit  down,  young  man,"  etc., 
were  left  behind.  The  term  ''  modern,"  there- 
fore, is  a  purely  relative  term,  and  it  is  impossible 
in  exact  thinking  to  use  it  justly  without  impor- 
tant qualifiers. 

In  what  follows  I  certainly  shall  not  use  it  in 
any  hard  and  fast  sense,  for  we  are  all  more  or  less 
modernists.  If  at  any  point,  however,  I  shall 
seem  to  be  severe  in  reflections  on  ''  modernism  " 
as  such,  it  should  be  understood  that  I  have  in 
mind  the  extreme  and  destructive  form  of  it  as 
represented  by  some  such  names  as  Haeckel,  Well- 
hausen,  Jenssen,  etc. ;  those  who  hastily  and  on 
pure  assumption  have  become  practically  nihilists 
in  both  philosophy  and  religious  faith.    This  mod- 


196  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

ernism  is  purely  speculative,  marked  by  wild 
g-eneralizations,  is  hasty  in  its  conclusions,  and 
unsettling  to  all  reality.  By  it  is  generally  meant 
a  practical  pantheism  in  which  sin  is  made  little 
of,  salvation  is  mere  education,  miracles  are  im- 
possible, and  there  is  no  such  thing  as  revelation. 
All  religions  are  relatively  good,  or  good  for  noth- 
ing. Christ  is  self-deluded,  and  the  intuitions  are 
a  fiction.  Prayer  is  an  illusion.  The  universe  has 
neither  origin  nor  goal,  and  each  stage  of  history 
is  only  another  turn  in  the  kaleidoscope  of  suc- 
cession. Determinism  is  its  philosophy,  and  acci- 
dentalism its  method.  There  is  no  God  that  we 
may  know,  whom  we  may  describe  by  any  attri- 
bute, or  with  whom  we  may  have  fellowship. 
Eternal  life  is  a  myth,  and  there  is  no  authority 
for  anything  or  anywhere  except  in  the  capricious 
self.  Christianity  has  no  worse  foe  than  this  kind 
of  modernism,  however  sweetly  it  may  appear  to 
argue  and  use  its  borrowed  livery  in  which  to  ex- 
ploit its  practical  atheism. 

Another  school  of  thought  also  has  arisen 
not  so  extreme,  most  plausible  to  the  unsuspect- 
ing, but  which  yet  so  leans  to  the  destructive 
school  of  criticism  that  its  influence  is  most 
misleading. 


AFFECTED    BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  IQ/ 

It  would  seem  that  the  members  of  this  school, 
in  the  fear  lest  they  should  not  appear  scholarly — 
not  having  adopted  the  latest  shibboleth  in  the 
terms  of  speculative  cunning — ^supposing  their 
writings  will  not  have  sufficient  weight  with  the 
phantom-chasers,  in  the  most  indiscriminate  way 
lump  together  phrases  which  more  judicial  minds, 
to  say  the  least,  hesitate  to  use.  Here  is  a  speci- 
men :  The  president  of  an  American  college  in 
speaking  of  contributions  to  the  new  world  of 
the  inner  life,  lately  made  this  classification  of 
factors  in  modern  thought,  which  he  implied  go 
without  saying : 

(i)  The  influence  of  natural  science  and  the 
doctrine  of  evolution;  (2)  the  coming  in  of  the 
historical  spirit;  (3)  the  rise  of  the  new  psy- 
chology; (4)  the  new  science  of  sociology;  and 
(5)  the  study  of  comparative  religion.  This  is  a 
form  of  classification  having  much  vogue  at  this 
hour. 

These  points  are  stated  as  representing  some- 
thing which  with  every  scholar  should  be  accepted 
at  once,  whereas,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  every  one 
of  the  points  made  is  a  matter  of  dispute  and 
needs  interpretation.  Thus  to  beg  the  question 
in  a  wholesale  wav,  as  is  now  most  common,  is 


198  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

extremely  irritating  to  common  sense  as  well  as 
to  the  philosophic  mind.  The  effect  of  it,  more- 
over, is  to  fill  many  students  with  supercilious 
arrogance,  as  under  the  influence  of  such  teaching 
they  early  begin,  parrotlike,  to  reiterate  hasty  con- 
cessions as  if  they  were  axioms. 

The  question  whether  a  fashion  of  thought  is 
recent  or  ancient  in  its  form  of  expression,  in  it- 
self, is  quite  irrelevant  to  its  intrinsic  value. 

We  would  do  well  to  keep  in  mind  our  Lord's 
dictum,  that  "  every  scribe  who  hath  been  made  a 
disciple  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a 
man  that  is  a  householder,  who  bringeth  forth  out 
of  his  treasure  things  new  and  old."  Every  prin- 
ciple pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  to  its 
ultimate  and  cosmic  reality,  is  as  old  as  eternity, 
albeit  the  temporal  and  phenomenal  form  of  its 
expression  may  be  as  recent  as  the  coloring  of 
clouds  at  the  latest  sunrise. 

This  is  what  Solomon  saw  when  he  wrote: 
"  Thou  hast  set  the  world  "  (or  eternity)  "  in 
their  heart."  Of  course  by  ''  world  "  or  ''  eter- 
nity "  Solomon  meant  the  world  as  God  conceived 
it — the  idealistic  world — the  ideals  of  that  world 
which  are  timeless,  the  world  as  God  sees  it.  It  is 
this  twofold  form  of  the  world  which  we  should 


AFFECTED    BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  I99 

ever  keep  before  us;  it  is  that  which  makes  it 
possible  for  us  to  learn  to  live  our  eternal  life 
under  the  conditions  of  time  and  sense. 

The  highest  attainment  in  Christian  living  is 
here.  Christ's  life  was  such.  That  which  makes 
the  poets  so  great  is  that  they  see  through  the  veil 
of  things  visible  and  sensuous,  and  through  this 
symbolism  grasp  the  underlying  spiritual  realities, 
and  so  rise  into  a  higher  realm  of  thought  and 
being  than  does  the  ordinary  mind.  So  when  Mrs. 
Browning  would  teach  us  really  to  see  our  uni- 
verse, she  writes : 

There's  nothing  great  nor  small  has  said  a  poet  of 

our  day  .  .  . 
No  lily-muffled  hum  of  a  summer  bee 
But  finds  some  coupling  with  the  spinning  stars; 
No  pebble  at  your  foot  but  proves  a  sphere; 
No  chaffinch  but  implies  the  cherubim; 
And,  glancing  on  my  own  thin-veined  wrist, 
In  such  a  little  tremor  of  the  blood 
The  whole  strong  clamor  of  a  vehement  soul 
Doth  utter  itself  distinct. 
Earth's  crammed  with  heaven, 
And  every  common  bush  afire  with  God; 
But  only  he  who  sees 
Takes  off  his  shoes. 
The  rest  sit  round  it 
And  pluck  blackberries, 
And  daub  their  natural  faces,  unaware, 
More  and  more  from  the  first  similitude. 


200  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

There  is  much  danger  to  sound  thought  on  any 
subject,  and  especially  so  in  religion,  when  one  is 
comparing  anything  ancient  with  that  which  has 
modern  aspects.  One  conceives  of  some  mere  form 
of  truth  which  has  prevailed  in  thought  from  time 
immemorial,  and  he  makes  a  fetish  of  it;  he  al- 
most deifies  it;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  one  be- 
comes obsessed  by  some  later  form  of  prevalent 
opinion,  and  unduly  exalts  that  as  if  it  alone  held 
the  kernel  of  the  truth,  and  he  seizes  upon  and 
worships  the  mere  lateness  of  form  in  the  husk, 
and  in  his  sense  of  the  antithesis  between  the  two 
forms  he  misses  the  reality.  The  thing  is  neither 
old  nor  new.  The  half-truth  which  carries  con- 
cealed within  it  a  partial  error,  misleads  and  be- 
clouds truth,  per  se,  and  so  it  remains  for  a  wiser, 
more  discriminating,  more  truly  scholarly  genera- 
tion to  rise  up  and  expose  the  falsity  of  an  antith- 
esis that  was  never  legitimate. 

We  need  not  go  far  afield  to  find  instances 
of  the  error  represented  both  by  the  traditional- 
ist and  the  modernist.  Great  poets,  the  real  phi- 
losophers, and  the  truly  profound  theologians, 
are  not  of  this  sort.  The  whole  truth  is  never 
in  a  shibboleth,  whether  it  be  ancient  or  mod- 
ern.    In  whatever  period  as  to  time  the  shibbo- 


AFFECTED   BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  201 

leths  are  used,  they  are  ephemeral  and  transient. 

Now  would  we  not  do  well  to  bury  in  one  grave 
the  common  plea  that  we  should  adhere  to  a  given 
opinion  of  truth  because  our  fathers  held  it,  and 
the  other  that  we  should  accept  a  verdict  because  it 
represents  the  modern  mind  ?  Neither  expression 
represents  anything  definite  in  thought  or  final 
in  reality.  Each  usually  embraces  half-truths  in- 
stead of  any  whole  value.  Even  as  scholars  we 
ought  to  be  above  their  use,  and  if  we  are  seers, 
which  is  of  unspeakably  more  importance,  the 
phrases  cannot  live  an  hour  in  the  face  of  any 
real  insight. 

How  old  is  God?  Is  eternity  controlled  by  a 
calendar?  Truth  is  always  both  old  and  new; 
the  multiplication  table  is  both  old  to  God  and 
new  to  your  child;  personality  is  so.  There  is 
such  a  thing  as  eternal  youth,  while  the  infant 
just  beginning  to  pray  at  its  mother's  knee  in  that 
act  is  as  old  as  Gabriel. 

Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy. 
Trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 
From  God  who  is  our  home. 

The  apostle  speaks  of  those  who  "  are  ever 
learning  and  never  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  " ;  and  is  not  this  because,  whether  in  infancy 


202  THE   TASK    WORTH   WHILE 

or  age,  they  are  ever  studying  the  calendar  instead 
of  the  dial  and  the  sun  above  it — a  sun  that  has 
no  rising  and  will  never  set ;  a  God  to  whom  time 
is  one  eternal  now  ? 

Now  we  cannot,  in  detail,  deal  with  modern 
thought  at  even  a  few  points  at  which  in  its 
more  radical  aspects  it  is  working  harm  to  mis- 
sions. It  will  suffice  for  our  purpose  if  we  con- 
centrate upon  one  matter  concerning  which  an 
undoubted  just  and  deep  alarm  is  felt,  namely,  in 
its  treatment  of  the  subject  of  comparative  re- 
ligion. This  study  is  made  in  some  parts  but  an 
expression  of  the  many  aspects  of  an  extreme  view 
of  evolution ;  it  is  being  so  studied  in  most  of  our 
higher  schools,  and  if  a  truer  discrimination  is 
not  exercised  than  in  some  cases  we  have  in  mind, 
it  cannot  be  otherwise  than  that  great  harm  will 
result  to  the  cause  of  missions  and  of  religion  it- 
self. 

It  has  become  a  recent  fashion  on  the  part  of 
some  who  are  hostile  to  Christian  theology  as 
redemptive,  to  attack  it  not  overtly,  but  inciden- 
tally to  the  establishment  of  a  science  of  compara- 
tive religion,  and  it  is  this  motif  that  has  thrown 
the  true  study  off  its  center.  And  this,  even 
though  some  learned  and  scientific  men  like  Har- 


AFFECTED    BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  203 

nack  declare  that  a  science  of  comparative  re- 
ligion, as  such,  is  impossible,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  there  is  but  one  religion,  namely,  Christianity, 
while  all  other  systems  though  religious,  are  in 
the  main  mere  speculative  philosophies. 

The  manner  of  those  who  would  thus  reduce 
Christianity  to  the  phenomenal  and  humanistic 
plane,  is  first  dogmatically  to  presuppose,  by 
hypothesis,  a  cosmic  evolution  as  the  final  phi- 
losophic basis  of  this  universe.  This  done,  the 
type  of  thought  easily  passes  to  the  next  step ;  that 
every  kind  of  religion  which  has  entered  history — 
including  of  course  Christianity,  which  on  one 
side  of  its  being,  indeed,  is  historical — is  part  of 
a  series  of  evolutions,  and  therefore  none  of  them 
can  be  considered  final.  Of  course  all  this  quite 
ignores  the  supremely  cosmic,  the  super-historical 
nature  of  Christ,  the  eternal  Word. 

Now  this  science  of  religion  as  comparative 
is  a  matter  with  which  I  would  have  less  to  differ 
if  it  confined  itself  to  the  merely  historic,  non- 
Christian  religions.  But,  unfortunately,  this  is 
just  what  it  does  not  do,  and  of  course  cannot  do 
and  still  work  out  its  hypothesis  to  its  satisfaction. 
It  must  therefore  pare  down  the  Christ  to  square 
with  its  hypothesis. 


204  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Where  religions  are  truly  studied,  both  in  their 
similarities  and  their  dissimilarities,  as  they  ought 
to  be,  the  outcome  in  the  nature  of  the  case  will 
be  properly  something  apologetic.  In  such  case, 
the  various  systems,  when  their  features  are  drawn 
out,  will  stand  in  a  relation  peculiarly  contrastive 
to  Christ's  revealed  system,  and  it  will  duly 
appear  that  those  systems  are  wholly  incompar- 
able with  Christianity. 

Comparative  religion,  however,  may  be  ap- 
proached as  a  mere  history  of  religions,  i.  e.,  on 
their  merely  historical  side.  This  idea  of  the 
study  most  easily  lends  itself  to  the  ambitious 
design  to  make  an  exact  science  of  it.  In  this 
case,  as  one  of  its  advocates,  Louis  Henry  Jor- 
dan ^  says :  ''  Comparative  religion  has  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  solution  of  the  questions, 

*  Is  this  religion  better  than  its  neighbors  ?  '  or 

*  Which  of  all  these  religions  is  the  best?  '  "  And 
quoting  from  another,  Jordan  says :  ''  No  one 
should  commit  the  mistake  of  imagining  that  the 
science  of  religion  " — by  which  he  means  the  his- 
tory of  religions — "  proves  the  truth  of  any  one's 
point  of  view   (not  even  Christ's)   on  the  sub- 

1  "Survey  of  Recent  Literature,"  embracing  twenty-five  works  on  "Com- 
parative Religion." 


AFFECTED    BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  20$ 

ject."  To  the  student  "  one  religion  is  as  another, 
and  the  question  is  indifferent,  whether  there  is 
truth  in  any  form." 

Again  this  author  says :  "  The  student  of  com- 
parative rehgion,  if  he  is  to  do  his  work,  must 
abstain  from  considering  whether  the  behefs  he 
investigates  are  true."  Of  course  this  all  as- 
sumes that  Christianity,  like  the  philosophic  sys- 
tems, are  only  creedal  matters,  *'  beliefs  " — mat- 
ters of  opinion  for  the  schools,  not  realities  for  the 
life.  Jordan,  however,  admits  that  ''  such  varia- 
tions of  terminology  and  definition  as  he  had  just 
quoted  from  another  are  very  unfortunate;  that 
they  are  often  needlessly  perplexing  and  mislead," 
but  he  expresses  the  hope  that  "  as  the  study 
grows  older,  such  defects  will  gradually  disap- 
pear." Yet  Mr.  Jordan  himself  can  abide  no 
book  that  makes  an  apologetic  use  of  comparative 
religion,  and  even  goes  the  length  of  saying  that 
a  theological  professor,  or  even  a  member  of  a 
Christian  church,  is  "  suspect  in  this  field." 

Now  what  is  a  science  of  comparative  religion 
worth  which  is  to  be  studied  with  a  philosophi- 
cal dogmatic  assumption  at  its  very  base,  and 
without  the  least  regard  to  the  question  of  com- 
parative worth  or  truth  of  any  religion? 


206  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

It  is  impossible  to  study  Christianity  in  any  real 
way,  and  not  discover  its  value  to  be  something 
unspeakably  deeper  than  mere  opinion.  It  is 
revelation;  it  embraces  matters  of  life,  and  the 
things  revealed  have  to  do  with  life.  If  the  truths 
in  it  are  not  applied  to  life  by  a  vital  test  of  the 
will — by  the  executive  action  of  the  whole  soul — 
nothing  is  accomplished  much  worth  while.  But 
in  the  view  of  such  thought  as  I  have  quoted 
above,  Christianity  is  not  revelation  at  all  from 
the  eternal  world,  and  the  eternal  God,  but  is 
simply  a  record  of  the  attainment  of  the  Semitic 
aided  by  other  Eastern  minds,  such  as  the  Baby- 
lonian, Persian,  Egyptian,  or  Greek.  The  very 
Bible  is  but  a  composite  of  these.  (See  the 
"  Gilgamesh  Epos,"  by  Jenssen  of  Marburg.) 

In  this  view,  before  the  so-called  science  can 
begin,  Christ  must  be  reduced  by  hypothesis  to 
the  plane  of  a  created  being,  as  Arianism  does 
with  him,  or  to  a  mere  high  type  of  manhood, 
albeit  self-deluded,  as  a  crass  type  of  nihilistic 
thought  makes  out.  And,  of  course,  we  may  look 
for  a  higher  than  Christ  yet  to  be  evolved.  It 
does  not  trouble  this  school  of  thought  at  all  thus 
to  reduce  Christ  to  mere  relativism.  It  proposes 
to  do  that  in  advance,  before  it  has  examined  the 


AFFECTED    BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  207 

evidence,  and  yet  calls  itself  an  inductive  science. 

But  this  Christ  cannot  be  ''  The  Word  made 
flesh,"  an  actual  incarnation  of  the  Deity,  final 
and  absolute  in  himself,  ''  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, yea  and  for  ever."  The  Christ  of  the  Bible 
admits  of  no  such  view  in  comparative  religion  as 
Jordan  declares  it  to  be.  And  the  type  of  religion 
that  conceives  Christianity  as  relative  to  all  others 
is  another  kind  of  religion  altogether  from  that 
of  the  Bible.  In  such  an  understanding  of  terms, 
the  study  of  comparative  religion,  however  high- 
sounding  its  claim  to  be  considered  scientific,  will 
bear  some  reexamination  by  those  who  prefer  not 
to  be  misled. 

The  philosophy  of  comparative  religion — for  it 
is  a  philosophy  rather  than  a  science — I  am  ques- 
tioning is  nothing  other  than  the  old  Heraclit- 
ism  of  past  ages,  over  again — the  doctrine  of  an 
eternal  flux,  or  becoming.  This  universe  is  but 
a  succession  of  changes  in  an  endless  series;  an 
endless  thought  without  a  thinker ;  a  series  of  laws 
without  a  lawgiver.  Theology  is  a  scheme  with- 
out even  a  schemer,  least  of  all,  an  authority  be- 
hind it,  or  a  final,  eternal,  personal  causality 
above  it,  or  an  adequate  goal  before  it.  All  this 
is  a  conception  of  things,  which  Dr.  A.  H.  Strong, 


208  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

in  his  late  address  before  the  Louisville  Seminary, 
characterized  as  a  system  of  ''  bad  metaphysics, 
bad  ethics,  and  bad  theology."  It  is  sheer  pan- 
theistic dogmatism,  the  logical  result  of  which  is 
pure  nihilism  in  thought;  it  cannot  but  result  in 
impiety  in  life.  Can  such  a  philosophy  of  com- 
parative religion,  however  scientific  it  may  be 
termed,  be  other  than  blighting  in  its  effect  upon 
the  whole  missionary  enterprise?  Has  it  not 
already  so  resulted  in  many  quarters  ? 

I  now  note,  and  with  far  more  pleasure,  certain 
respects  wherein  modern  statements  of  truth  have 
favorably  affected,  or  in  the  end  will  so  affect. 
Christian  missions. 

I.  Modern  thought  has  contributed  an  impor- 
tant value  to  thinking  on  every  subject,  from  its 
enlarged  emphasis  upon  the  inductive  element  in 
it.  But  the  inductive  method  is  not  the  exclusive 
method  even  of  science.  The  deductive  method 
has  a  service  to  render  quite  as  essential ;  there  is 
no  science  in  the  world  which  does  not  depend 
for  its  validity  on  the  unprovable  yet  fundamental 
intuitions  of  the  soul  and  deductions  resulting 
therefrom.  The  certainty  of  the  self-conscious 
ego  in  all  personality,  of  every  axiom  of  mathe- 
matics, of  all  the  first  principles  of  rationality,  and 


AFFECTED   BY    MODERN   THOUGHT  209 

of  the  deepest  religions  instincts  of  man,  are  de- 
ductive. On  the  vaHdity  of  these  first  principles 
alone  can  any  science  in  the  world,  even  evolution 
itself,  be  built.  If  by  the  statement  that  religion 
has  become  more  scientific  in  its  expression,  is 
meant  that  induction  only  is  necessary,  it  is  untrue. 
Nevertheless,  granting  the  fact  that  deduction  is 
also  necessary  and  fundamental,  the  careful  in- 
duction of  facts  and  phenomena  in  religion  has 
been  of  great  value,  although  it  deals  with  but  a 
part  of  the  problem  of  religion.  Now  in  the 
realm  of  comparative  religion  the  principal  values 
resulting  from  its  study  all  come  under  the  head  of 
an  inductive  process.  What  Buddhism  or  Con- 
fucianism historically  is,  what  it  has  been,  what  it 
has  wrought,  are  pure  matters  of  fact  to  be  de- 
termined by  investigation,  while  that  which  makes 
religion  itself  possible  and  natural  to  all  men  lies 
in  the  deductive  realm.  The  inductive  gives  us 
phenomena  only.  It  observes  and  records  what  is ; 
in  so  far  it  is  scientific;  but  when  the  mind  com- 
pares, and  judges,  and  deals  with  causality  and 
origin,  comparative  religion  at  once  becomes  not  a 
science  but  a  philosophy.  And  a  comparative 
philosophy  of  religions  is  a  far  deeper  thing  than 
the  so-called  ''  comparative  science  "  of  religion. 
o 


2IO  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

But  let  us  cordially  grant  the  value  of  induction 
as  preparatory  and  essential  on  one  side  of  things 
to  a  true  philosophy,  and  so  of  a  philosophy  of 
religion. 

2.  A  much  truer  view  of  God  has  come  in  as 
the  composite  result  of  more  reflective  thinking 
and  experience,  and  deduction  therefrom  in  the 
life  of  the  church.  A  more  careful  biblical  study 
has  shown  us  that  God  the  Father  is  no  arbitrary 
sovereign  merely  but  that  all  that  Christ  was,  God 
has  ever  been;  that  "  God  is  as  good  as  Christ." 
That  the  proper  sovereignty  of  God  is  a  sover- 
eignty of  grace,  and  not  of  power,  or  of  mere  holi- 
ness as  an  abstraction  unmodified  by  love,  in  the 
sense  of  benevolence  and  clemency.  That  the  whole 
Deity  is  a  suffering  Deity;  that  this  whole  Deity 
is  an  atoning  Deity ;  that  the  Father  as  well  as  the 
Son  has  taken  upon  himself  the  burden  of  the  sin- 
problem  of  the  universe;  that  the  mediation  of 
Christ  has  not  the  least  relation  to  the  willingness 
of  God  to  save  but  to  his  self-consistency.  Now 
this  better  view  of  God  has  an  immense  bearing 
upon  the  missionary  problem  and  its  methods. 

This  problem  is  mainly  to  reconstruct  the  pagan 
conception  of  the  character  of  God.  All  sin  and 
sinful  thought  of  God  puts  him  at  a  distance  and 


AFFECTED    BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  211 

then  caricatures  him.  The  missionary  function  is 
to  enhghten  all  men  as  to  "  what  is  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  mystery  "  of  grace  in  our  universe.  It 
is  the  story  of  what  Christ  was — what  he  endured, 
and  what  was  his  spirit  on  the  cross — that  does 
more  than  anything  else  to  recover  the  pagan  to 
a  true  idea  of  God. 

3.  The  idea  of  propitiation  as  a  self-propitia- 
tion of  God  is  a  modern  concept,  a  distinction  dif- 
fering widely  from  placation.  Placation  has  to 
do  with  disposition,  and  that  God  needs  any 
change  in  his  disposition  to  save  is  a  myth.  Ex- 
piation has  to  do  with  moral  consistency  and  the 
final  destruction  of  the  sin  principle.  The  atone- 
ment as  vicario-vital  rather  than  a  mechanical 
substitution  is  the  modern  and  truer  conception 
of  this  matter. 

4.  The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  universally 
working  in  one  form  or  another,  and  through  all 
sorts  of  agencies  rather  than  simply  where  the 
Bible  is  known,  is  a  modern  conception  and  far 
truer  than  the  earlier  one.  The  modern  thought 
is  that  despite  all  man's  sin,  God's  Spirit  presses 
with  more  force  than  the  atmosphere  presses  on 
a  vacuum,  to  enter  man's  heart  and  dwell  there. 
This  Spirit  takes  all  the  initiative  in  salvation. 


212  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

5.  The  modern  view  of  faith  is  that  this  is  the 
executive  act  of  the  entire  soul  expressing  itself 
in  a  moral  attitude  toward  the  degree  of  light 
one  has.  It  is  vastly  more  than  the  traditional 
conception,  that  it  is  primarily  belief  in  a  sound 
theological  proposition.  Faith  may  be  incipient  in 
myriads  of  souls  who  never  knew  the  name  of 
the  true  God  or  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  It  ap- 
pears to  have  been  so  with  Helen  Keller  before 
her  enlightening  interview  with  Phillips  Brooks. 
These  are  they  who  did  they  know  Christ  would 
at  once  accept  him,  doubtless  more  promptly  than 
we  do.  A  Chinese  devotee  once  started  to  walk 
ninety  miles  to  find  a  foreigner  who  could  tell  him 
of  the  true  God.  Neesima,  the  Japanese  apostle, 
left  his  native  land  at  the  risk  of  his  head,  and 
went  to  China,  and  came  all  the  way  to  Amer- 
ica, "  following  his  star,"  as  he  described  it  to  Mr. 
Alpheus  Hardy,  his  benefactor.  Suppose  either 
of  these  men  had  died  on  the  way.  If  in  the  atti- 
tude of  faith,  as  they  appeared  to  be,  were  they 
not  incipiently  saved,  although  in  an  embryonic 
degree  ? 

Or  what  shall  we  conclude  respecting  a  story 
like  that  which  has  recently  come  to  light  in  the 
explorations  of  Upper  Egypt  ?    Mr.  Arthur  Wei- 


AFFECTED   BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  213 

gall,  chief  inspector  of  the  Department  of  An- 
tiquities in  Egypt,  has  brought  to  light  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  one  of  the  early  Pharaohs, 
who  lived  from  1375  to  1358  B.  C  His  name  was 
Akhnaton — the  glory  of  Aton,  or  deity,  a  name 
which  the  young  monarch  himself  adopted  in  place 
of  his  heathen  name,  Amon-hotep,  the  old  heathen 
god  of  Egypt.  He  reigned  for  eighteen  years. 
He  deserted  Thebes,  it  being  full  of  heathen 
deities,  and  built  a  new  city  on  "  clean,  new  soil," 
where  he  could  carry  out  his  ideas  and  develop  his 
new  religion.  Aton,  whom  Akhnaton  worshiped, 
was  not  one  of  the  old  gods  of  the  land,  but  was 
God  as  we  conceive  him,  the  tender  Father  of  all 
creation,  the  one  only  living  and  true  God,  a 
God  of  love,  and  light,  and  beauty;  the  Author 
of  energy,  and  the  ultimate  source  of  life.  This 
Akhnaton  wrote  many  poems,  and  some  psalms  al- 
most identical  with  those  in  the  Bible,  to  the  praise 
of  Aton.  But  in  the  end  his  friends  proved  false, 
his  health  gave  way,  and  he  died  at  the  early  age 
of  twenty-eight.  His  empire  fell  and  returned  to 
idolatry.  But  he  bore  his  testimony,  and  died 
trusting  in  him  whom  he  knew  as  Aton. 

Would  we  dare  say  that  if  this  remarkable  and 
exceptional  man,  had  he  heard  of  the  God  and 


214  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  would  have 
hesitated  a  moment  to  receive  him?  Was  not  his 
attitude  one  of  faith?  Truly,  **  God  hath  not  left 
himself  without  a  witness." 

6.  The  status  of  the  heathen  as  a  whole,  liv- 
ing as  they  do  under  a  system  of  redemptive 
grace,  is  a  very  different  thing  from  what  the 
fathers  supposed.  The  heathen  are  not  lost  on 
the  ground  of  their  ignorance  of  our  knowledge  of 
the  historic  Christ,  but  because  of  a  non-penitent, 
non-believing  attitude  toward  the  standards  of 
truth  they  have,  and  like  ourselves  will  be  judged 
as  Paul  says,  ''  According  to  my  gospel,  by  Jesus 
Christ,"  and  not  under  terms  of  legal  severity 
alone.  In  this  view,  men  in  this  world  are  not 
only  lost,  but  they  are  potentially  saved  also ;  lost 
or  saved  according  as  in  the  spirit  of  faith  they 
welcome  or  reject  the  light  they  have.  The  deep- 
est damnation  is  for  those  who  reject  the  highest 
light,  and  the  profoundest  mercy  for  those  who 
welcome  and  cherish  the  dimmest  light.  (See 
John  9,  the  locus  classicits  on  the  subject  of  gospel 
probation,  especially  ver.  3-6,  39-41.) 

7.  The  practical  work  of  missions  as  the  re- 
sult of  true  modern  thinking  is  not  now  re- 
garded as  necessarily  antagonism  to  paganism, 


AFFECTED   BY    MODERN    THOUGHT  21 5 

not  a  war  of  extermination.     The  seeking  of  a 
postern  gate,  a  point  of  contact,  is  the  truer  tac- 
tics.   True  missionary  effort  does  not  beHttle  the 
deep  rehgiousness  of  sincere  pagan  outreach.     It 
does  not,  Cromwell-hke,  demohsh  temples,  but  it 
seeks  to  bring  the  hour  when  the  heathen  will 
demolish  or  disuse  their  own  temples  and  the  idols 
within  them.    Buddhists  in  Japan  are  now  preach- 
ing the  New  Testament  as  comments  upon  their 
own  Buddhism.     Not  long  since  a  Buddhist  in 
conversation  with  a  Christian  remarked,  "  Why, 
our  religion  has  something  exactly  like  that  New 
Testament  passage  you  were  just  quoting  to  me." 
Said  the  Christian,  '^  Let  me  see  the  passage." 
Turning  to  it,  it  was  found  to  be  an  exact  quota- 
tion from  one  of  Christ's  own  homilies. 

8.  The  discernment  of  the  bearing  in  provi- 
dence of  many  so-called  secular  things  in  the  cos- 
mic progress  as  ordained  to  Christian  ends.  God 
uses  other  than  strictly  evangelizing  agencies  to 
work  out  his  plans.  Mission  work  is  now  more 
widely  distributed  among  all  sorts  of  agencies 
than  formerly,  as  there  are  many  real  Christians 
outside  the  church.  The  very  nations  of  the 
earth  in  manifold  secular  realms  are  responding  to 
some  of  the  needs  of  the  pagan  world.     Doctor 


2l6  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Forsyth,  of  England,  in  his  recent  work  on  "  Mis- 
sions in  Church  and  State,"  has  pointed  this  out 
with  great  clearness.  President  Taft's  famous 
Carnegie  Hall  address,  a  little  more  than  a  year 
ago,  took  the  high  stand  that  nations  like  ours 
have  a  missionary  responsibility  for  the  weaker 
nations.  Mr.  Halford's  recent  address,  "  The 
Response  of  the  Nation  to  the  National  Mission- 
ary Campaign,"  is  also  illustrative  of  the  point  I 
make.  Right-thinking  laymen  on  every  side  are 
feeling  a  new  responsibility  respecting  many  auxil- 
iary forms  of  work.  In  all  these  things  God's 
cosmic  process  is  bringing  in  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord. 


LECTURE  X 

THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 
"  FULNESS  OF  TIMES  " 


LECTURE  X 

IT  would  seem  sacrilegious  to  attribute  to  any 
later  century  an  expression  which  scripturally 
and  technically  denotes  the  dawn  of  the  incarna- 
tion. And  yet  some  periods  in  the  development 
of  Christian  history  seem  so  decisive  for  the  king- 
dom of  God,  that  the  application  I  am  making  of 
the  phrase  ''  Fulness  of  Times,"  may  be  pardon- 
able. For  example,  the  apostolic  age,  the  age  of 
the  early  apologists,  the  Lutheran  Reformation, 
the  birth  of  the  American  Republic,  and  the  in- 
auguration of  modern  missions,  all  mark  decisive 
epochs. 

If  the  emergence  of  Japan  from  its  long  seclu- 
sion and  our  American  war  with  Spain,  within 
the  last  few  decades,  resemble  in  significance  the 
epochs  noted,  the^i  the  era  marked  by  the  open- 
ing of  the  twentieth  century  is  of  such  import 
for  the  cause  of  missions  that  it  also  merits  the 
designation — the  fulness  of  times. 

The  late  Joseph  Cook  reckoned  among  what 
he   designated    as   "  the   seven    wonders   of   the 

219 


220  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

modern  world,"  what  he  called  "the  self-reforma- 
tion of  Japan  and  China."  But  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury promises  to  bring  the  values  of  that  reforma- 
tion to  a  vastly  higher  power,  and  with  it  oppor- 
tunities for  the  expansion  of  Christianity  in 
many  other  realms  as  well,  in  ways  scarcely  con- 
templated a  generation  ago.  The  unprecedented 
prospects  in  China  itself,  in  the  Philippine  Islands, 
in  Persia,  in  Turkey,  and  all  the  Mohammedan 
lands,  and  in  Russia,  and  also  in  Central  and 
Southern  America,  are  fairly  startling  to  Chris- 
tendom. 

All  the  lands  of  the  earth  have  been  discovered 
and  explored,  all  the  seas  have  been  navigated. 
Swift  vehicles  of  every  description,  wireless  teleg- 
raphy, and  even  airships  are  now  brought  Into 
use,  affording  facilities  for  communication  pre- 
viously scarcely  dreamt  of.  If  Roman  roads, 
Roman  law,  and  Greek  letters  prepared  the  way 
for  the  diffusion  of  early  Christianity,  so  now 
everything  imaginable  is  contributing  to  some 
great  denouement  beyond  finite  power  accurately 
to  conceive. 

A  broadened  use  of  International  diplomacy 
and  arbitration,  of  statecraft  and  philanthropy, 
all  point  to  some  form  of  cosmic  consummation, 


THE    FULNESS   OF   TIMES  221 

logically  related  at  least  to  the  final  glory  of 
Christ.  Surely  all  agencies  are  being  enlisted  as 
never  before  to  make  the  two  hemispheres  one, 
and  that  is  to  bring  the  world  into  the  closest  re- 
lations of  a  spiritual  sort. 

Even  the  typical  American  mind,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  highly  cosmopolitan,  probably  as  yet 
but  poorly  realizes  the  real  cosmic  unity  that  al- 
ready exists  in  the  mind  which  resides  in  the 
genius  of  the  times,  not  to  say  in  the  mind  of  the 
God  over  all ;  for,  after  all,  wx  people  of  the  Occi- 
dent who  have  never  fully  faced  the  vast  Orient, 
the  mighty  East,  still  think  in  our  subconscious- 
ness that  we  of  the  West  are  the  people,  if  not  the 
whole  thing.  After  we  have  glanced  over  our 
morning  dailies  of  Boston,  New  York,  Chicago, 
or  San  Francisco,  we  serenely  suppose  that  we 
have  had  the  world  view,  that  our  half  of  the 
planet  is  really  the  whole  system. 

I  venture  to  say,  however,  that  he  who  would 
have  the  real  world  view  of  our  time,  would  need 
to  combine  the  representative  Associated  Press 
despatches  in  typical  papers  of  the  West,  indi- 
cated by  the  cities  above  named,  and  perhaps 
added  to  these  those  of  London,  Berlin,  St. 
Petersburg,    Paris,   and   Cairo,   to   embrace   the 


222  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Occidental  outlook.  But  now  let  not  any  be  sur- 
prised if  I  say  that  the  time  has  come  when  in 
this  respect  the  Orient  for  a  world  view  is  ahead 
of  the  Occident.  Renter's  daily  despatches,  pub- 
lished in  the  great  papers  of  the  East,  although 
brief,  embrace  a  wider  world  area  and  outlook 
than  the  despatches  of  any  half-dozen  papers  pub- 
lished in  this  country.  There  may  be  some  who 
still  suppose  that  a  missionary  going  out  from 
America  to  China,  goes  to  bury  himself  amid 
Tartarian  darkness,  that  he  has  "  gone  out  of  the 
world,"  and  probably  "  thrown  his  life  away." 
But  a  resident  in  Tokyo,  Shanghai,  Hongkong, 
or  Calcutta,  who  takes  up  his  paper,  probably  only 
a  weekly,  will  have  reports  in  despatches  from  be- 
tween twenty-five  and  fifty  countries  of  the  globe, 
indicating  the  status  of  things  for  that  week. 
And  the  enterprising  missionary  in  those  lands 
is  perforce  of  the  fact  that  he  is  shut  up  to  less 
literature  in  general,  daily  trained  to  think  of  the 
doings  and  even  the  statecraft  of  the  world.  The 
leading  public  questions  of  all  lands  are  regularly 
reported  and  discussed  in  epitome,  and  an  Occi- 
dental living  in  those  regions  becomes  trained 
in  the  art  of  grasping  the  world  in  its  entirety. 
If  his  knowledge  is  not  so  detailed  as  that  of  a 


THE    FULNESS   OF   TIMES  223 

man   who   reads   more   publications,   it  becomes 
cosmopolitan  and  keen-eyed. 

A  business  man  of  New  York  State,  who  has 
recently  made  a  trip  of  the  world  and  carefully 
surveyed  foreign  mission  fields,  lately  reported 
to  the  New  York  "  Outlook  "  that  he  came  home 
with  a  profounder  estimate  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary than  he  ever  supposed  possible  to  him. 
On  the  trip  out  from  San  Francisco,  in  carefully 
observing  a  party  of  young  missionary  candidates 
on  shipboard,  he  wondered  what  those  callow 
young  people  would  ever  accomplish,  and  his  in- 
terest fell.  He  declares,  however,  that  after  going 
through  Japan,  China,  and  India,  on  board  a 
homeward  steamer  passing  through  the  Indian 
Ocean  and  Suez  Canal,  he  fell  in  with  another 
company  of  missionaries  who  had  been  in  service 
fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  were  going  home  on 
furlough.  These  persons  he  found  the  most  in- 
telligent and  impressive  people  of  all  his  travel- 
ing companions.  They  had  become  so  familiar 
with  all  the  conditions  in  the  far  East  that  they 
were  authorities.  They  knew  not  only  the  re- 
ligions but  the  commerce,  the  politics,  the  phi- 
lanthropies, the  naval,  the  military  strength  of 
all  nations.    They  were  so  familiar  with  the  lead- 


224  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

ing  questions  of  diplomacy,  of  international  state- 
craft, and  of  racial  conditions  in  general  that  no 
other  class  of  persons  on  the  ship  could  at  all  hold 
their  own  with  them  in  conversation  or  discus- 
sion. These  missionaries  had  unconsciously  be- 
come statesmen  through  the  very  necessities  of 
the  life  they  lived,  and  in  the  realms  of  thought 
in  which  they  had  been  drilled.  This  education 
was  secured  through  the  reading  of  a  few  cos- 
mopolitan books,  and  through  the  illumining 
values  of  the  daily  cablegrams  of  the  world, 
which  had  kept  them  in  touch  not  with  one  hem- 
isphere, but  with  two.  Any  one  who  ever  met, 
heard,  or  read  the  writings  of  the  late  Dr.  Wm. 
Ashmore,  Bishop  Thoburn,  Dr.  Arthur  Smith, 
Rev.  Timothy  Richard,  Dr.  J.  D.  Davis,  Dr. 
Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  or  Mr.  F.  S.  Brockman, 
or  have  heard  speak  many  other  missionaries  that 
might  be  named,  will  appreciate  what  I  say.  The 
view  of  the  world  now  needed  to  be  up  to  date 
on  the  facts  must  be  stereoscopic.  One  needs  two 
lenses  in  order  to  get  the  full  configuration  of 
things. 

The  inventions  of  the  world  have  come  to 
such  a  marvelous  development  as  almost  to  war- 
rant the  term  in  providence,   "  the  theology  of 


THE    FULNESS    OF    TIMES  225 

inventions."  It  would  seem  as  if  God  were  call- 
ing out  the  reserves  in  our  day  as  never  before, 
and  were  strategically  operating  through  na- 
tions, whereas  in  Carey's  time  he  seemed  to  be 
employing  only  individuals. 

Doctor  Richter,  of  Berlin,  who  was  the  guest 
of  honor  from  abroad  at  the  late  Students'  Con- 
vention, at  Rochester,  classified  the  missionary 
development  of  the  past  in  a  way  that  rather 
startled  some  people.  He  said  this  development 
fell  into  three  periods :  ( i )  The  Lutheran,  which 
was  marked  by  its  emphasis  on  the  supernatural 
factors,  the  inspired  word,  the  divine  Christ, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  in  regeneration;  (2)  the 
Anglican  period,  marked  by  the  patient  develop- 
ment of  the  native  church,  with  emphasis  on  the 
principles  of  self-support,  self-government,  and 
self-propagation;  and  (3)  the  American  period, 
with  its  aggressive  forcefulness  in  matters  of  or- 
ganization, of  greatly  increased  contributions,  and 
the  uprising  of  its  laymen,  and  a  businesslike 
application  to  the  speedy  evangelization  of  the 
world — that  is,  in  ways  worthy  of  the  enterprise 
and  generosity  and  businesslike  force  with  which 
business  men  conduct  their  great  commercial 
enterprises.     Certainly  the  last  factor  is  one  of 


226  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

amazing  significance.  And,  on  the  whole,  it  has 
appeared  so  suddenly  as  almost  to  sweep  off  its 
feet  the  promoters  of  the  slowgoing  movements 
of  much  of  the  propagandism  which  has  hith- 
erto characterized  our  denominational  missionary 
Boards. 

However,  it  would  be  great  folly  to  disparage 
the  period  of  foundation  laying  which  has  char- 
acterized the  work  of  these  Boards  in  the  past 
century.  It  is  they  who  under  God  have  fur- 
nished the  pioneer  missionaries,  who  have  mas- 
tered the  languages  and  so  widely  translated  the 
Scriptures,  who  have  made  the  church  indigenous 
in  the  lands  in  which  they  have  labored.  They 
did  not  hold  so  many  gigantic  conventions  in 
the  past  as  we  do  nowadays,  and  they  could 
not  boast  of  so  many  Y.  M.  C.  A.  buildings  and 
Christian  clubhouses  in  the  great  capitals  in  the 
East,  but  they  did  do  what  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  alone 
can  never  do  in  heathen  lands:  they  made  their 
appeal  to  the  whole  family  life — not  simply  to  a 
few  select  men  culled  from  the  best  fruits  of 
long  and  patient  missionary  labor,  that  might  be 
enlisted  for  a  few  general  purposes;  they  have 
created  the  Christian  life  broadly  in  the  various 
mission  lands,  and  have  made  possible  the  recon- 


THE    FULNESS   OF   TIMES  227 

struction  of  society  from  the  ground  up  as  no 
other  agenc}^  in  the  world  less  than  the  church 
with  its  ordinances  and  other  institutions  could 
possibly  do. 

Excellent  as  the  work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  in 
many  places  as  a  supplemental  agency,  it  can 
never  be  a  substitute  for  the  church  itself  in  any 
well-organized  evangelical  denomination.  The 
church  has  its  composite  work  of  evangelism, 
medical  work,  education,  including  the  teaching 
of  boys  and  the  fostering  of  true  girlhood.  It 
puts  its  broad  impress  upon  the  entire  family. 
Nor  is  there  any  better  way,  on  the  whole,  than 
for  the  church  in  its  divinely  constituted  capacity 
to  keep  on  in  its  steady  course  in  days  to  come 
as  it  has  done  hitherto. 

Among  the  reasons  which  lead  us  to  empha- 
size the  peculiar  significance  of  our  new  century 
for  the  rapid  Christianization  of  the  world,  is  the 
remarkable  providential  position  which  the  God 
of  providence  has  given  to  Protestant  America, 
with  relation  to  some  sort  of  a  world  culmination. 
It  is  in  this  great  country  that  God  has  wrought 
out  what  would  seem  to  be  the  last  and,  on  the 
whole,  the  most  successful  experiment  in  human 
government  possible  to  man.    Old  World  dynas- 


228  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

ties  have  come  and  gone,  absolutism  is  a  thing  of 
the  past,  imperialism  everywhere  is  a  waning 
power.  Any  nation  that  begins  to  measure  up  to 
where  it  can  do  its  best  for  human  society  must 
develop  a  constitutional  government  in  which 
the  people,  after  all,  shall  rule. 

It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  the  great  Glad- 
stone, as  prime  minister  of  England,  was  most 
urgently  pressing  upon  her  majesty,  Queen  Vic- 
toria, the  signing  of  some  measures,  regarded  by 
the  queen  as  extreme.  Her  minister  insisted  on 
her  signature.  The  queen  winced  under  the  pres- 
sure, and  intimated  that  Gladstone  would  usurp 
her  authority,  and  she  exclaimed :  '*  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, you  forget  that  I  am  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land," to  which  Mr.  Gladstone  immediately  re- 
joined, ''  But,  your  majesty,  you  forget  that  I 
am  the  people  of  England."  The  queen  yielded, 
and  her  minister  carried  away  with  him  the 
important  document  signed.  At  all  events,  popu- 
lar government,  for  better  or  worse,  would  ap- 
pear to  have  come  to  stay,  and  the  world  is  rapidly 
adopting  it.  France  has  become  a  republic, 
Persia  and  Turkey  have  accepted  constitutional 
government,  the  authorities  in  China  have  already 
constituted  and  opened  their  first  senate,  and  even 


THE   FULNESS   OF   TIMES  229 

Russia  is  in  the  throes  of  a  new  agitation  re- 
specting it,  while  in  the  South  American  States, 
despite  the  awful  drawbacks  of  popular  ignorance 
and  bigotry,  republics  abound. 

Geographically  considered,  our  position,  lying 
midway  between  Europe,  which  has  been  shaken 
to  its  foundations  by  the  reflex  upon  it  of  our 
popular  institutions,  and  Asia,  on  the  other  side, 
with  all  its  ancient  imperialism,  constitutes  us 
the  object-lesson  of  the  whole  world. 

Politically  regarded  also,  we  are  disconnected 
from  European  entanglements  on  the  one  side, 
and  from  Oriental  colonial  schemes  on  the  other; 
we  seek  for  no  territory  as  such  beyond  our  own 
borders.  We  must  set  a  value  on  a  few  coaling 
stations  in  the  Pacific,  and  by  our  unexpected  tem- 
porary occupancy  of  the  Philippines  we  accept 
the  responsibilities  involved  in  it  purely  as  an 
opportunity  for  blessing  the  Filipinos,  and  as  a 
base  of  operations  for  encouraging  the  integrity 
of  China  and  a  safeguard  against  the  unrighteous 
encroachments  of  mere  landgrabbing  powers, 
who  would  exploit  the  continent  of  Asia  or  the 
islands  of  the  Archipelago  for  mere  imperial 
purposes.  If  our  Monroe  Doctrine  has  had  an 
expansion  in  those  regions,  it  has  been  in  the  in- 


230  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

terest  of  other  and  unfortunate  peoples  far  more 
than  for  ourselves. 

But  free  as  we  have  become,  in  the  realm  of  re- 
ligion from  State  establishments  like  England, 
Germany,  and  other  parts  of  North  Europe,  we 
are  freer  to  work  out  religion  on  its  merits  than 
any  other  people  on  the  globe. 

The  dignity  of  the  democratic  idea  which  has 
arisen  in  our  great  experiment  has  predisposed 
the  world  in  every  part  to  expect  high  things 
from  the  multiplied  ministrations  which  are  being 
passed  on  from  us  to  people  less  favored  than 
ourselves.  The  American  missionary  also,  as  the 
result  of  his  own  elevated  self-respect,  developed 
under  the  institutions  of  this  land,  has  come  to 
feel  a  confidence  that  cannot  be  shared  by  others 
of  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  possibilities  of 
man  as  man,  whatever  his  race  or  tribe,  when 
thrown  back  upon  first-hand  relations  to  God 
and  his  religious  possibilities.  Thus  the  American 
missionary  expects  even  from  a  single  convert 
results  of  which,  other  things  being  equal,  no 
one  but  an  American  Christian  would  entertain 
the  hope. 

How  marvelously  this  worked  out  in  the  life 
and  work  of  the  great  Cyrus  Hamlin,  of  New 


THE    FULNESS   OF   TIMES  23 1 

England,  through  his  founding  of  Robert  Col- 
lege on  the  Bosphorus,  and  in  the  work  of  Doctors 
Jessup,  Bliss,  and  Post  in  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College  at  Beirut.  The  work  of  those  great  col- 
leges has  issued  in  the  new  Turk  and  in  his  new 
sultan,  who  last  December  had  the  courage  to 
execute  twenty-seven  of  the  red-handed  mur- 
derers in  the  open  streets  of  Adana,  for  instiga- 
ting and  abetting  the  massacre  of  thirty  thousand 
Armenians  under  the  Turkish  flag  a  few  months 
before.  The  old  deposed  sultan  would  not  have 
dared  to  execute  one  Mohammedan  for  redden- 
ing his  hands  with  the  blood  of  a  Christian  be- 
liever under  any  circumstances. 

In  the  early  days  of  mission  work  in  Turkey, 
when  Russia  was  assuming  to  dictate  religious 
terms  in  that  land,  a  Russian  official  said  to  the 
American  missionary.  Doctor  Schauffler :  "  My 
imperial  master,  the  Czar,  will  never  allow 
Protestantism  to  set  foot  in  Turkey."  But  Doctor 
Schauffler  calmly  replied :  "  My  imperial  Master, 
Christ,  will  never  ask  the  Emperor  of  Russia 
where  he  may  set  his  foot  or  plant  his  kingdom." 

America  has  free  institutions  which,  sooner  or 
later,  are  demanded  by  all  human  kind,  and  they 
are   rapidly  being  planted   in   all   parts   of  the 


232  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

world,  under  some  name  or  other.  The  flexibility 
of  social  relations,  under  which  the  American 
missionary  has  had  his  training,  emboldens  him 
to  awaken  new  ideals  in  schoolboys  and  children, 
and  to  stimulate  their  realization  under  most 
diverse  conditions.  It  is  this  fact  that  moved 
Dean  Ramsay,  the  great  Scotch  archeologist, 
who  has  spent  much  time  in  visiting  and  explor- 
ing the  whole  Levant,  to  say  that  the  old  sultan 
feared  the  influence  of  Robert  College  on  the  Bos- 
phorus,  an  American  missionary  plant,  more 
than  all  the  fleets  of  Europe,  and  that  this  same 
college  made  possible  the  new  national  life  of 
Bulgaria. 

Formalism  has  little  hold  upon  the  American 
Christian  mind,  and  this  fact  predisposes  our  mis- 
sionaries to  expect  the  new  birth  of  humanity 
universal  into  the  realities  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion to  an  uncommon  degree. 

Then  the  vast  wealth  which  has  come  into  the 
hands  of  Christian  men  in  this  land,  and  their 
willingness  to  use  it  for  the  blessing  of  all  man- 
kind in  the  most  unprecedented  fashion,  gives  an 
incomparable  advantage  to  American  missionary 
effort.  The  return  of  twelve  million  dollars,  one- 
half  the  indemnity  levied  against  China  in  the 


THE   FULNESS   OF   TIMES  233 

interest  of  our  government  after  the  Boxer  trou- 
bles, marked  an  unheard-of  step  in  international 
diplomacy.  That  single  act  did  more  to  lift 
China  out  of  its  dreadful  fear  of  the  foreigner 
than  any  other  act  in  all  time.  It  is  reported  by 
our  missionaries  that  the  authorities  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Szechuen,  in  West  China,  placarded  the 
entire  province  with  a  statement  of  this  extraor- 
dinary act,  and  in  connection  with  it  took  occa- 
sion to  say  that  the  religion  of  a  country  that 
could  treat  a  weaker  power  thus  was  something 
not  to  be  feared  by  his  sixty  millions  of  country- 
men in  that  one  province.  What  a  reenforcement 
of  every  one  of  our  American  missionaries  in  that 
part  of  China  this  one  widely  published  bulletin 
afforded.  Thus  has  God  already  rewarded  that 
peculiar  type  of  Christian  diplomacy,  represented 
by  the  late  Secretary  Hay,  ex-Secretary  Foster, 
and  others,  including,  of  course,  at  least  the  last 
three  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  who  had 
the  moral  nerve  and  the  Christian  consideration 
thus  to  treat  China.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  China 
should  again  regain  courage  to  renew  the  experi- 
ment which  she  began  but  retreated  from,  about 
forty  years  ago,  of  sending  some  of  her  brightest 
sons   to   this  country   for   education;   nay,    that 


234  THE  TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

she  should  be  willing  to  expend  the  entire  re- 
turned indemnity  fund  upon  that  single  object. 

There  was  a  time,  indeed,  when  America  had 
to  find  herself,  as  in  colonial  times,  and  conquer 
the  right  even  to  exist  as  a  nation.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence expected  much  more  within  five  hundred 
years  than  to  make  secure  our  national  existence. 
Even  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  but  a  measure 
of  self-defense.  It  contemplated  no  such  moral 
aggressions,  no  such  world-planting  of  spiritual 
ideals  as  we  to-day  are  witnesses  to.  Indeed,  it 
was  not  until  after  our  recent  war  with  Spain  that 
we  recognized  ourselves  as  a  world  power,  and 
that  we  gathered  courage  to  go  on  record  before 
the  world  as  ready  to  assume  our  full  share  of 
the  white  man's  burden.  But  we  are  in  for  it 
now,  and  the  intelligent  world  traveler  will  find 
in  every  land  the  signs  of  a  marvelous  impress  of 
the  ideals  in  our  free  institutions  upon  every  peo- 
ple of  the  earth. 

Now,  it  is  doubtful  if  an  experiment — nay,  a 
demonstration — exactly  like  this  may  be  looked 
for  again  in  the  history  of  our  planet.  There  is 
no  other  continent  left  with  such  virgin  possi- 
bilities for  the  working  out  of  an  object-lesson 


THE   FULNESS   OF   TIMES  235 

on  SO  broad  a  scale  as  our  country  has  presented. 
There  is  none  so  strategically  located,  in  connec- 
tion with  such  a  fulness  of  times,  with  endless 
lines  of  influence  focaHzed  in  it,  with .  reference 
to  all  other  peoples  of  the  earth  as  Protestant 
Christian  America  constitutes. 

In  an  earlier  lecture  we  emphasized  the  large 
place  of  Providence  as  a  preparation  for  the  com- 
ing of  the  kingdom.  We  now  revert  to  that  prin- 
ciple for  the  sake  of  emphasizing  particularly  the 
manner  in  which  a  great  multitude  of  providential 
occurrences,  affecting  the  world  as  a  whole,  have 
been  rapidly  culminating  in  a  way  that  unmis- 
takably points  to  some  great  goal  in  history. 
This  goal  we  believe  to  be  directly  related  to  the 
universal  diffusion  of  the  gospel  among  all  man- 
kind. Events  which  have  to  do  so  particularly 
with  rapid  transportation  and  intercommunica- 
tion between  the  different  families  of  the  human 
race  are  not  accidental.  They  have  to  do  with 
God's  plan  of  the  ages,  and  that  plan  is  the  out- 
working of  human  redemption  through  Jesus 
Christ.  The  foremost  and  most  vigorous  nations 
of  the  earth  already  hold  in  their  hands  so  vast 
power,  and  the  acquisition  of  it  is  so  unquestion- 
ably due  to  Christian  forces,  that  it  is  only  a  ques- 


236  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

tion  of  time  when  those  forces  which  are  central 
in  the  Hfe  of  the  more-advanced  peoples  shall 
affect  and  dominate  all  the  rest  if  apostasies  shall 
be  averted. 

The  activities  in  the  realm  of  commerce  alone, 
which  have  given  so  vast  importance  to  the  great 
port  cities  of  the  East,  like  Yokohama,  Kobe, 
Shanghai,  Hongkong,  and  Calcutta,  but  prepare 
the  conditions  for  the  more  rapid  advance  of 
Christianity  when  it  comes. 

The  time  has  already  come  when  the  most  im- 
portant questions  of  international  diplomacy  cen- 
ter in  the  matter  of  trade  interests  as  between  the 
nations.  The  open-door  policy  in  China  and 
Manchuria  means  the  trade  question;  but  that 
question  means  the  relative  rank  among  the  na- 
tions of  our  influence;  and  that  in  turn  depends 
upon  that  which  is  most  vital  in  the  life  of  our 
nation.  In  England  it  may  be  the  interest  of 
colonization,  in  Germany  it  may  mean  the  gain- 
ing of  predominance  in  finding  markets  for  her 
manufactured  products  in  a  race  with  England, 
and  in  the  United  States  it  may  mean,  and  does 
mean,  something  more  fundamental  than  either 
of  these,  viz.,  the  sharing  of  her  Christianity  and 
the  beneficence  of  her  free  institutions.     But  God 


THE    FULNESS    OF    TIMES  237 

is  using  it  all  in  a  cumulative  way  to  bring  on 
the  final  issues,  moral  and  spiritual,  which  are  to 
control  the  world.  If  at  the  beginning  of  our 
Christian  era  God  used  the  combined  antecedents 
furnished  by  Greece,  Rome,  and  Egypt  to  for- 
ward the  early  Christianity,  so  now  a  fortiori, 
God  is  using  all  the  factors  of  the  past  and  present 
connected  with  trade,  commerce,  and  international 
diplomacy  to  bring  in  his  glorious  kingdom.  The 
port  cities  of  the  East  in  this  regard  form  a  most 
interesting  theme  of  study. 

In  1890,  on  my  first  visit  to  China,  while  in  the 
port  of  Hongkong,  I  counted  seventeen  great 
ocean  liners  anchored  about  me.  Seventeen  years 
after,  in  1907,  I  was  in  that  same  city  on  a  sec- 
ond visit,  and  from  the  Peak  Hotel,  on  the 
heights,  one  thousand  feet  or  more  above  the  city, 
with  the  printed  report  of  the  harbor  master  in 
my  hands,  I  looked  down  upon  that  same  magnifi- 
cent harbor,  one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  the 
world,  and  counted  sixty-five  great  ocean  steam- 
ships tied  to  the  buoys  of  the  respective  lines  of 
all  nations,  making  altogether  a  majestic  fleet, 
lying  in  regular  columns  as  if  maneuvering  for 
a  battle.  In  1890  thirty  thousand  vessels  an- 
chored and  cleared  from  that  port  within  a  twelve- 


238  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

month.  Four  thousand  one  hundred  of  these 
were  steamships  and  three  thousand  of  them  Brit- 
ish. Twenty  years  afterward,  doubdess  four 
times  the  number  of  steamers,  weaving  their  way 
to  and  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  here  greeted 
and  passed  on.  And  this  majestic  presentment  of 
the  culminating  of  the  commercial  forces  of  the 
world  affords  a  symbol  of  the  interchange  of 
thought,  of  a  better  understanding,  and  hastening 
possibilities  for  that  final  brotherhood  of  man  and 
even  fellowship  of  saints,  which  is  the  goal  of 
all  the  movements  on  this  planet. 

In  my  last  visit  to  China  there  were  two  things 
which  impressed  me  as  the  sure  signs  that  China 
had  entered  upon  a  really  modern  career  as  com- 
pared with  the  apparently  unchangeable  situation 
in  that  land  as  I  saw  it  seventeen  years  previously. 
The  first  was  the  fact  that  her  ancient  institutions, 
known  as  the  examination  halls  for  her  Literati 
were  being  demolished  in  all  her  leading  capitals, 
after  having  existed  and  dominated  everything 
for  thirteen  centuries;  and  the  very  stones  were 
being  utilized  for  the  building  of  modern  high 
schools,  normal  schools,  and  colleges  on  Western 
models.  And  schools  for  girls  also  were  rising 
everywhere. 


THE    FULNESS   OF   TIMES  239 

The  second  thing  which  impressed  me  that  a 
really  new  day  had  arrived  for  China  was  this :  in 
Shanghai  had  sprung  up  under  entirely  native 
auspices  a  new  publishing  house  called  the  Com- 
mercial Press.  It  was  started  by  a  few  young  men 
who  had  their  training  in  the  famous  Presby- 
terian Press  in  the  city.  It  started  with  nothing 
but  the  new  impulse  of  about  five  young  men,  all 
Chinese,  and  a  prophetic  vision  that  an  era  of  new 
education  was  just  at  hand  for  their  great  em- 
pire. They  began  with  a  capital  of  five  thousand 
dollars;  they  set  to  work  to  secure  a  new  line  of 
text-books  on  modern  subjects,  translated  by  the 
best  scholars  into  Chinese,  to  be  available  when 
needed.  Five  years  after  starting,  the  company 
had  six  hundred  employees.  They  were  using 
thirty-eight  superior  printing  presses — the  larger 
ones  made  in  Germany,  England,  or  America. 
They  had  invested  a  capital  of  three-quarters  of 
a  million  dollars;  they  were  sending  out  forty 
large  packing-cases  of  books  daily  to  important 
centers,  from  Peking  to  Canton.  They  placed  in 
my  hands  a  catalogue  of  the  publications  they 
were  sending  out,  which  numbered  eighty-four, 
embracing  topics  like  these :  history  (of  all  na- 
tions), mathematics,  political  economy,  chemistry. 


240  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

physics,  electricity,  geography,  ethics,  etc.,  and  the 
stock  of  the  concern  was  at  a  premium  in  the 
markets  of  the  country.  This  concern  now  has 
ten  branch  plants  located  in  other  important  cities 
of  the  empire. 

Take  two  or  three  other  of  the  phenomena  of 
our  time,  also  indicative  of  the  culminating  plans 
of  God  in  history.  For  example,  the  marvelous 
activities  in  South  Africa  since  the  time  when  the 
late  Cecil  Rhodes  laid  his  plans  for  a  great  nation 
on  the  lines  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  to  be 
formed  in  South  Africa.  That  new  nation  has 
been  formed  within  two  years.  In  it  the  English 
and  Dutch  factors  have  so  far  co-operated,  de- 
spite the  bitterness  of  the  recent  Boer  War,  as  to 
agree  to  a  national  constitution  in  which  the 
various  provinces  figure  as  so  many  individual 
States.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  Cape-to-Cairo  Rail- 
way, binding  together  the  whole  continent,  from 
north  to  south,  is  well  on  the  way  toward 
completion,  and  it  will  not  be  long  until  Egypt, 
East  German  Africa,  the  interior  native  State  of 
Uganda,  the  more  civilized  portions  of  the  Sou- 
dan, the  Congo  Free  State,  under  the  more  be- 
nignant rule  of  the  new  king  of  Belgium,  and 
the   South  African  United   Empire,   will  be  in 


THE    FULNESS    OF    TIMES  24I 

as  close  international  bonds  as  Europe  is  to-day. 

Another  agency  of  immense  moment  is  the 
new  Isthmian  Canal,  which  will  do  for  America, 
and  especially  for  the  southern  portion  of  it  and 
for  Mexico,  what  the  Suez  Canal  did  in  shorten- 
ing the  distance  to  India  for  England  and  its 
empire. 

The  truth  is,  the  great  possibilities  of  conti- 
nental development,  with  fraternal  relationships 
between  them  all,  is  being  hastened  to  a  consum- 
mation, only  equaled  by  the  great  predictions  of 
the  prophets  concerning  the  races  of  mankind. 
As  is  said  of  Ethiopia,  that  she  ''  shall  suddenly 
stretch  forth  her  hands  unto  God,"  ^  so  in  the  very 
near  future  the  same  will  be  realized  in  all  the 
divisions  and  continents  of  mankind. 

In  our  childhood  we  were  trained  by  our  atlases 
to  think  of  the  world  as  composed  of  two  hemi- 
spheres, the  eastern  and  the  western.  The  one 
contained  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  larger 
part  of  Oceanica ;  and  the  other  contained  the  two 
Americas,  North  and  South,  and  Mexico.  But 
in  the  ongoing  movements  of  Christian  forces, 
to  Christian  thought  at  least,  the  atlas  to  ex- 
press the  truer  facts  would  make  a  different  divi- 

1  Revised  vcxsion. 

Q 


242  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

sion  between  the  two  parts  of  the  world.  In  one 
would  lie  the  hemisphere  of  Christendom,  em- 
bracing Europe,  America,  parts  of  India,  Japan, 
and  even  China,  Korea,  and  great  portions  of  the 
South  Seas.  In  the  other  would  lie  pagandom  and 
semi-pagandom,  in  which  would  be  the  fetish- 
worshiping  Africa  and  the  idol-worshiping  por- 
tions of  Asia,  the  formalized  portions  of  Central 
and  South  America,  Mexico,  the  Greek  Church, 
and  the  Mohammedan  world-.  The  great  practical 
question  remaining  to  be  solved  is  this :  How  shall 
the  light  which  pervades  Christendom  be  made  so 
to  suffuse  the  pagan  hemisphere  yet  remaining 
as  that  the  "  other  sheep  "  of  Christ's  flock  shall 
be  gathered  into  one,  "  and  there  shall  be  one 
fold,  one  Shepherd  "  ?  God  hasten  the  consum- 
mation in  his  own  time. 


LECTURE  XI 


AN   EMBASSY   IN   A   CHAIN;   OR,    THE 
TRANSFIGURED  SACRIFICE 


LECTURE  XI 

IN  the  course  of  these  lectures,  surely  by  this 
time,  the  idea  has  possessed  all  our  minds 
that  in  order  to  qualification  for  missions,  the 
highest  of  all  services,  one  needs  in  order  to  be- 
come efficient  in  it,  to  have  his  whole  being  not 
only  renewed,  but  practically  and  spiritually  re- 
polarized.  It  was  so  even  with  our  Lord,  con- 
sidered as  our  archetype,  innocent,  unfallen 
though  he  was.  It  was  not  till  the  Spirit  came 
upon  him  at  the  Jordan,  and  after  the  temptation, 
that  he  undertook  his  public  ministry.  At  Naza- 
reth, where  he  began  that  ministry,  he  prefaced 
it  all  by  saying,  '^  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  me."  If  this  was  needful  for  the  Christ, 
all  the  more  so  is  it  essential  for  the  under- 
servant. 

In  what  now  does  the  qualification  for  Chris- 
tian service  in  its  more  spiritual  aspect  consist? 
How  shall  that  service  meet  divine  approval? 
How  prove  effective?  Is  there  a  basis  clearly 
revealed  in  the  New  Testament  on  which  one 

245 


246  TllK   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

may  stand  as  the  servant  of  God,  as  a  worker  with 
him,  as  ''  the  sent  of  Christ,"  as  the  empowered 
of  the  Spirit? 

1'his  is  a  day  of  vast  and  varied  missionary 
enterprise  and  effort.  What  is  the  essential,  di- 
vine concept  of  a  missionary?  What  the  order 
of  being  authorizing  one  to  claim  the  title,  and 
authenticating  him  as  the  sent  of  heaven?  Re- 
ducing the  conditions  to  its  lowest  terms,  we 
think  it  is  found  in  that  title  which  the  Apostle 
Paul  is  fond  of  attributing  to  himself,  in  the 
manifold  relations  which  he  sustained  to  the 
Gentile  world  to  which  he  was  sent.  The  apostle 
characterizes  himself  as  "  the  prisoner  of  Jesus 
Christ,"  '*  the  prisoner  of  Christ  in  behalf  of  you 
Gentiles,"  the  **  Lord's  prisoner,"  a  ''  prisoner  of 
hope,"  etc.,  etc.  In  other  forms,  indeed,  Paul  de- 
scribes himself,  but  always  implying  the  same  re- 
lation. Frequently  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "  Paul 
the  servant,"  the  "^  doulos,"  or  the  bond-slave  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Paul  here  uses  the  term  '^bond-slave  " 
in  the  same  sense  in  which  it  is  used  in  Acts  2  : 
18,  in  which  it  is  said,  "  I  will  pour  out  of  my 
Spirit  upon  my  bond-men  and  bond-women," 
which  is  really  the  meaning  of  *'  my  servants  and 
handmaidens."    In  2  Cor.  2  :  14  the  apostle  uses 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  247 

this  remarkable  language,  "  But  thanks  be  unto 
God,  which  always  Icadeth  us  in  triumph  in 
Christ,  and  maketh  manifest  in  us  the  savor  of  his 
knowledge  in  every  place." 

The  scene  in  the  apostle's  mind  is  that  of  a 
triumphal  procession  in  the  city  of  Rome.  The 
victorious  general  has  just  returned  from  the  con- 
quest of  some  foreign  province;  he  is  receiving 
an  imperial  welcome  to  the  eternal  city;  the 
populace  has  come  out  to  welcome  him,  to  exult 
in  his  valor,  and  to  applaud  his  achievement. 
The  legions  are  in  line,  and  at  the  head  of  the 
column,  in  the  triumphal  car,  is  the  victorious 
general.  Chained  to  the  car  behind  him  are  some 
slaves,  specimen  captives  from  the  provinces  just 
reduced  to  subjection,  and  exhibited  as  trophies 
of  the  conquest.  With  such  a  scene  in  mind,  the 
apostle  seems  to  be  saying,  the  position  of  one  of 
those  captive  slaves,  those  trophies  of  the  con- 
quest, represents  my  relation  to  Christ ;  ''  that  is 
my  place,  a  place  of  complete  subjection,  of  abso- 
lute self-effacement."  He  is  thankful  to  be  led 
thus,  a  trophy  of  the  conquest  of  Christ's  love 
over  him;  ready,  if  need  be,  to  be  given  over  unto 
death,  that  the  odor  of  his  sacrifice  may  become 
incense  to  heaven  in  Christ's  behalf. 


248  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

But  what  is  meant  by  this?  There  is  danger 
that  at  first  blush  this  may  appear  as  a  morbid 
condition.  But  Paul  was  not  morbid,  neither  was 
there  a  drop  of  ascetic  blood  in  his  veins;  his 
spirit  was  imperial.  Caesar  was  never  as  opti- 
mistic or  sanguine  or  exultant  as  he.  The  man 
who  had  likened  himself  to  a  captive  trophy  was 
the  same  as  he  who  says  "  but  we  glory — exult — 
in  tribulation  also."  What  did  Paul  mean?  He 
was  simply  taking  this  strong  way  of  saying, 
Once  I  had  a  life  as  every  man  has  of  impulse,  of 
self-preference — my  nature  life.  But  this  life  of 
preference  I  have  deliberately  given  up  in  order 
that  I  may  do  the  higher  will  of  Christ  my  Lord, 
*'  for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things." 
As  such,  I  am  Christ's  prisoner,  having  no  in- 
dependent will  of  my  own ;  my  life  is  his ;  *' bought 
with  a  price,"  even  with  his  blood.  It  is  that 
which,  on  the  negative  side,  constitutes  me  his 
apostle,  his  missionary,  the  one  sent  forth  by 
him  to  do  that  which  I  would  never  do  but  for 
his  will. 

But  there  is  also  a  positive  aspect  to  this  serv- 
ice. So  let  us  place  beside  Paul's  thought  the  cor- 
relative conception  which  he  supplies  and  we  shall 
see  that  it  is  no  ascetic,  self-destroying  service 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  249 

which  Paul  attributes  to  himself.  It  would  be  a 
half-truth  were  we  to  say  that  Paul  was  merely 
a  prisoner,  and  that  prisonership  as  such  con- 
stituted his  complete  ideal  of  service.  The  Bible, 
from  the  very  inadequacies  of  common  speech, 
in  which  it  must  express  itself,  does  not  always 
yield  its  whole  thought  in  a  phrase ;  there  is  often 
something  between  the  lines;  Scripture  must  al- 
ways be  considered  with  its  implications. 

The  implication  contained  in  Paul's  concept  of 
prisonership  is  that  there  is  also  a  unique,  divine 
freedom  which  he  possesses  by  virtue  of  his 
prisonership  to  Christ.  Christ  never  enslaves  for 
its  own  sake,  but  rather  that  in  the  end  he  may 
confer  a  higher  freedom;  and  it  is  so  here.  Ob- 
serve that  Paul's  prisonership  was  to  Christ,  and 
Christ's  mastery  is  more  beneficent  than  one's  own. 
Paul  might  have  described  himself  as  the  prisoner 
of  Rome.  Such  he  was,  but  he  makes  no  mention 
of  that.  He  might  have  said,  "  I,  Paul,  the  prisoner 
of  the  bigotry  of  my  Jewish  countrymen,"  and 
have  spoken  truly;  but  he  makes  no  mention  of 
any  human  thraldom.  He  knows  that  as  the 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
all  earthly  power  (except  such  as  his  Master 
permits)   to  bring  him  into  bondage  as  its  vie- 


250  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

tim.  Nothing,  whatsoever,  that  is  harmful  can 
occur  to  him  except  by  Christ's  appointment  or 
permission.  All  that  relates  to  him,  be  he  bond 
or  free,  is  providential.  So,  in  reducing  his  rela- 
tionship to  Jesus  Christ  to  terms  of  prisonership, 
he  also  implies  that  he  is  Christ's  free  man.  How 
clearly  and  exultantly  he  brings  this  out  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  wherein  he  says,  "  For 
I  have  learned  in  whatsoever  state  I  am  therein 
to  be  content."  He  had  learned  it  in  Christ's 
school;  been  initiated  into  a  divine  secret.  He 
continues,  "  I  have  learned  both  how  to  abound 
and  how  to  be  in  want;  I  have  learned  both  how 
to  be  filled  and  to  be  hungry  " ;  and  the  thought 
is  he  receives  either  state  with  equal  satisfaction 
on  account  of  his  complete  absorption  in  his 
Master's  will  for  him.  For  his  soul's  satisfac- 
tion, he  did  not  depend  on  outward  circumstances 
or  conditions.  In  Christ  he  was  made  sufficient 
in  a  new,  divine  sufficiency. 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Epheslans,  Paul  puts  the 
same  thought  in  a  slightly  different  phrase  when 
he  speaks  of  himself  as  "  an  ambassador  in 
bonds."  This  thought  when  closely  studied  will 
be  found  to  yield  three  ideas.  First,  Paul's  con- 
ception of  his  business  of  life  was  that  of  conduct- 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  25 1 

ing  an  embassy — the  word  in  the  Greek  is  a  verb 
and  not  a  noun.  Secondly,  Paul's  limitation ;  he 
conducted  his  divine  embassy  **  in  a  chain. '^ 
Thirdly,  Paul's  unique  freedom,  and  the  holy  bold- 
ness which  he  knew  was  his,  though  in  a  chain. 
About  sixty  times  the  Greek  word  xao-^aofiai^ 
meaning  to  glory,  to  exult,  is  used  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  in  fifty  cases  it  is  Paul's  word, 
and  he  was  preeminently  the  suffering  apostle. 

The  truth  is,  most  efficient  servants  of  Christ 
do  their  work  at  the  end  of  a  tether,  whether  mis- 
sionaries or  not.  They  need  to  learn  the  freedom 
in  the  bond.  Many  eminent  saints  have  been 
great  sufferers,  as  Baxter,  Robert  Hall,  and  Spur- 
geon.  It  is  the  glory  of  Christianity  that  it 
enables  the  sufferer  to  transcend  his  sufferings. 
It  thus  proves  its  divineness.  A  few  years  since 
a  great  company  of  friends  were  standing  on  the 
wharf  at  East  Boston,  bidding  farewell  to  a  com- 
pany of  missionaries  about  to  sail  to  foreign  ports. 
The  "  good-byes  "  had  been  spoken,  the  gang- 
plank hauled  in,  the  vessel  was  slowly  moving  out 
into  the  channel.  Standing  by  the  guards  on  the 
upper  deck  was  a  brave  girl,  committed  to  mission 
work  in  India.  She  was  an  only  daughter,  and 
she  was  leaving  behind  her  on  the  wharf  a  father 


252  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

and  a  mother  and  an  only  brother.  With  eyes 
now  dried  of  tears  and  with  voice  unfaltering,  the 
young  missionary  struck  up  the  hymn : 

Rescue  the  perishing,  care  for  the  dying, 
Snatch  them  in  pity  from  sin  and  the  grave; 

Weep  o'er  the  erring  one,  lift  up  the  fallen, 
Tell  them  of  Jesus  the  mighty  to  save. 

The  crowds  on  the  shore  joined  in  the  hymn, 
the  missionary  leading,  until  the  voices  on  the  ship 
were  drowned  in  the  distance.  Far  out  on  the 
end  of  the  wharf  the  relatives  of  the  missionary 
girl  stood  waving  their  handkerchiefs  to  the  de- 
parting one. 

Suddenly  the  mother  of  the  brave  missionary 
swooned,  and  all  sympathized.  After  a  little  the 
mother  regained  consciousness,  and  again  lifting 
her  feeble  hand  to  wave  a  final  farewell  to  the 
dear  child,  with  a  radiant  smile  breaking  through 
her  tear-dimmed  eyes,  she  exclaimed,  "  I  would 
not  turn  my  hand  over  to  change  it."  Can  any 
one  tell  which  was  the  truer  missionary  of  Christ, 
that  daughter  on  the  ship  en  route  to  India,  or 
the  mother  on  the  wharf  about  to  turn  her  lone 
steps  back  to  her  desolate  home  in  Indiana? 
Would  we  dare  say  ?  Were  not  both  real  prison- 
ers of  Christ?    The  one  having  surrendered  her 


THE    TRANSFIGURED    SACRIFICE  253 

natural  preference  of  native  land  for  residence 
among  strange,  distant  peoples,  and  the  other 
having  surrendered  her  natural  parental  impulses ; 
and  both  surrendered  for  the  sake  of  Christ. 
Were  not  both  spirits  exultant  in  the  same  type 
of  divine  fellowship  with  their  Lord,  and  with 
corresponding  freedom  in  their  bond  ?  They  had 
moved  out  of  self  into  Christ.  The  mere  earthly 
sphere  in  which  they  expressed  their  respective 
lives  from  that  time  on  was  a  matter  purely  inci- 
dental and  unimportant,  as  compared  with  the 
deeper  relationship  to  Christ  entered.  This  gives 
us  the  point  at  which  the  spirit  of  two  kinds  of 
mission  work — home  and  foreign — meet  and  be- 
come really  one. 

Through  this  process  Christ  himself  was  offi- 
cially perfected,  step  by  step,  in  passing  through 
all  the  relations  common  to  human  kind — sin  ex- 
cepted— under  the  law  of  God.  The  service  of 
the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  of  course  the  mis- 
sionary, begins,  continues,  and  ends  on  the  same 
principle.  The  terms  may  vary,  the  principle  is 
one  and  the  same.  Through  death  and  resurrec- 
tion Christ  reached  his  goal.  Through  prisoner- 
ship  and  emancipation  the  servant  of  Christ  quali- 
fies, labors,  and  triumphs.    The  proposing  candi- 


254  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

date  for  missionary  service  needs  to  get  rid  of 
the  artificial,  romantic  conception  of  missions,  as 
if  it  were  a  self-chosen,  heroic  service.  There  is 
no  ground  for  heroics.  In  any  relation  to  Christ, 
nothing  less  than  death  to  self-interest  for 
Christ's  sake  can  be  accepted,  and  nothing  more 
can  any  soul  offer. 

When  the  devoted  young  Wilmot  Brooke,  of 
England,  found  himself  daily  exposed  to  martyr- 
dom in  the  Niger  region  in  Africa,  he  wrote  con- 
cerning it :  "  It  was  not  with  me  a  question  of 
whether  or  not  I  should  die,  but  whether  having 
accepted  death  with  Christ  from  the  beginning  I 
should  so  die  as  to  prove  myself  worthy  of  my 
mission  when  the  real  end  came." 

In  a  visit  made  by  the  writer  to  the  Pacific  coast 
a  few  years  since,  he  fell  in  with  an  aged,  retired 
minister,  who  had  been  known  for  several  years 
as  uncommonly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  missions. 
Considering  his  income,  he  had  been  a  large  con- 
tributor in  the  course  of  his  lifetime,  especially 
to  foreign  missions.  Upon  inquiry  made  by  the 
writer  respecting  the  particular  influences  which 
in  early  life  had  so  directed  his  interest  and  de- 
votion to  the  cause,  he  told  his  story : 

"  Sixty  years  ago  a  classmate  and   I,   from 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  255 

Hamilton  Theological  Institution,  stood  together 
on  the  wharf  in  Boston.  My  companion,  under 
appointment  by  the  Missionary  Union,  was  about 
to  sail  for  Assam.  I  had  expected  to  be  his  co- 
laborer  in  Assam,  but  at  the  last  moment  I  had 
been  told  that  for  health  reasons  the  Board 
had  declined  to  send  me.  I  think  the  saddest 
day  of  my  life  was  the  day  on  which  I  saw  my 
classmate  sail  away  into  the  horizon,  leaving  me 
behind  on  the  wharf. 

''  However,  realizing  that  divine  wisdom  had 
drawn  the  line  of  separation  between  us,  I  rea- 
soned, 'although  the  privilege  is  denied  me  of 
being  a  missionary  to  the  heathen,  I  am  still  the 
Lord's  servant.  I  will  go  at  once  to  New  York 
and  offer  myself  to  the  Home  Mission  Society  for 
service  in  the  West.'  I  accordingly  did  so,  and 
was  commissioned  to  go  to  the  territory  of  Iowa, 
which  was  then  an  almost  unbroken  prairie.  In 
that  State  I  labored  for  a  generation  in  the  plant- 
ing of  new  churches,  a  sphere  of  toil  in  which  I 
was  enabled  to  serve  the  Lord  to  my  utmost.  My 
early  love  for  foreign  missions  has  only  intensified 
since  the  years  have  passed,  and  while,  with  my 
financial  savings  and  personal  sympathies,  I  have 
specially  endeavored  to  help  the  cause  abroad,  my 


256  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

active  service  has  been  given  to  work  in  the  home 
land." 

Here  then  we  find  one  of  the  Lord's  prisoners 
hindered  from  going  to  India  as  Paul  was  suf- 
fered not  to  go  to  Bithynia,  but  accepting  a  sphere 
of  service  where  God's  providence  fixed  it.  It 
was  this  attitude  of  mind,  this  spirit,  which  made 
him  the  real  missionary.  The  particular  part 
of  the  earth  in  which  he  toiled  was  a  matter  of 
small  import.  It  was  the  only  spirit  in  which  any 
servant  of  Christ  whatsoever  should  take  up  the 
Lord's  work.  The  truth  is,  what  we  call  fields 
of  service  are  in  the  last  analysis  a  matter  of 
sovereign  choice  and  determination.  We  have 
no  option  concerning  them.  Like  Paul,  every 
man  should  conceive  of  his  lifework  as  ''  a 
course,"  to  be  entered,  pursued,  and  finished  in 
harmony  with  the  Divine  prearrangement.  Like 
a  ship  "  on  her  course,"  like  a  star  in  its  orbit,  he 
should  try  to  move  in  the  divinely  appointed  path. 
Only  by  moving  in  such  a  path  can  any  one  hope 
to  do  his  best  work;  only  thus  can  anything 
worthy  the  name  "  success  "  be  achieved. 

When  Henry  M.  Stanley  first  went  to  Africa 
to  find  Livingstone,  no  one  suspected  him  of  go- 
ing as  "  the  Lord's  prisoner."     He  went  as  an 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  257 

adventurer,  as  a  protege  of  an  enterprising  New 
York  secular  journal;  at  the  best,  probably,  only 
a  philanthropist;  he  proved  himself  amazingly 
heroic ;  he  at  length  found  himself  beside  Living- 
stone at  Ujiji  on  Lake  Tanganyika,  the  companion 
of  his  isolation  and  expatriation.  They  were, 
however,  separated  by  vast  diameters  in  the  spirit 
of  their  respective  situations.  The  one,  Living- 
stone, was  in  African  wilds  as  the  "  prisoner  of 
Jesus  Christ " ;  the  other,  Stanley,  was  there  on  a 
temporal  errand,  however  human,  having  regard 
to  vastly  different  ends.  Stanley  sought  to  bring 
Livingstone  away,  but  the  apostolic  old  veteran 
would  not  be  moved  from  his  divinely  appointed 
course.  It  was  the  moral  power  of  Livingstone's 
conception  of  his  lifework  as  divinely  assigned, 
that  impressed  Stanley  as  nothing  before  had 
ever  done,  so  that  thereafter  all  his  life  Stanley 
took  up  his  tasks,  even  of  exploration,  in  a  spirit 
similar  to  the  old  missionary  who  had  mastered 
him. 

As  I  have  looked  upon  brother  missionaries  in 
many  a  foreign  field  (upon  such  as  Doctors  Ash- 
more  and  Griffith  John  in  China,  as  Doctor 
Bunker  in  Burma,  as  Doctor  Clough  in  India,  or 
as  I  have  thought  of  Henry  Richards  in  Africa), 


258  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

each  chained  to  his  post  by  his  firm  conviction  of 
Divine  appointment  thereto,  adhering  to  his  work 
decade  after  decade,  though  often  and  long 
separated  from  home  and  children  and  all  the 
delights  of  the  home  land,  I  have  seen  in  these, 
and  many  others  like  them,  illustrations  of  the 
principle  with  which  I  am  dealing.  These  are  so 
many  ''  prisoners  of  Jesus  Christ  "  on  behalf  of 
the  heathen — men  who  have  accepted  their  life 
tasks  and  spheres  of  labor  in  utter  opposition  to 
the  principle  of  natural  human  preferences,  and 
simply  because  they  believe  Christ's  will  for  them 
has  been  thus  expressed. 

In  the  light  of  what  I  have  been  saying  re- 
specting what  constitutes  a  real  missionary,  we 
find  a  basis  on  which  the  very  deepest  claim  may 
be  based  for  the  support  of  missionary  work. 
There  is  need  that  we  should  find  the  basis,  and 
find  it  in  the  very  nature  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise itself,  if  we  would  reach  the  heart  and  con- 
science of  the  church.  The  reasons  often  urged 
are  most  superficial;  for  example,  pictures  have 
been  vividly  drawn  of  the  conditions  of  priva- 
tion and  suffering  under  which  a  given  mission- 
ary is  doing  his  work. 

Doubtless  this  is  often  true  to  fact.     No  one 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  259 

can  read  the  life  of  John  G.  Paton,  or  the  life 
of  Moffat,  or  the  exposure  which  overtook 
China  missionaries  at  the  time  of  the  two  Boxer 
expulsions  from  their  fields,  and  not  deeply  sym- 
pathize with  the  trials  endured.  But  no  true  mis- 
sionary, not  even  one  of  the  many  facing  martyr- 
dom in  China  during  the  Boxer  uprising,  wanted 
the  pity  of  his  brethren  in  the  home  land.  There 
are  deeper  reasons  for  standing  by  such  as  these 
than  that  they  are  in  straits  called  to  suffer.  Nor 
are  we  to  spend  much  time,  if  we  are  ministers  in 
charge  of  parishes,  in  urging  upon  our  people  that 
the  churches  of  this  country  are  under  contract 
through  their  missionary  society  to  hold  the 
ropes  for  the  missionaries  who  have  been  let 
down  into  the  mine.  Our  people,  if  rightly  ap- 
proached, will  give  more  for  love  than  they  will 
for  law. 

George  Miiller  never  announced  to  the  world, 
never  would  have  the  world  believe  for  a  moment 
that  he  had  bargained  to  care  for  a  given  number 
of  orphans ;  he  rather  created  the  impression  that 
those  orphan  children  gathered  in  Bristol  were  the 
objects  of  divine  compassion,  and  that,  presump- 
tively, when  God's  people  knew  the  facts  they 
would  share  in  the  divine  family  feeling. 


26o  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

We  always  take  a  superficial  view  when  we 
magnify  the  prominence  and  worth  of  a  mere 
individual  on  the  mission  field,  singling  him  out 
as  a  conspicuous  person  whom  the  churches  would 
honor  themselves  to  identify  themselves  with.  It 
is  said  that  on  one  occasion,  when  Andrew  Fuller, 
in  England,  was  soliciting  for  the  mission  in  India, 
a  gentleman  of  means  who  venerated  the  gifted 
secretary,  said,  "  Mr.  Fuller,  here  are  two  sover- 
eigns which  I  will  give  to  you,  for  I  have  great 
respect  for  you,  but  I  will  give  nothing  for  the 
mission  for  which  you  plead,  for  I  have  no  faith 
in  it."  Fuller  answered,  handing  back  the  sover- 
eigns, ''  I  will  have  nothing  for  myself,  sir ;  for 
it  is  not  for  myself  I  plead,  but  I  would  be  glad 
to  have  a  much  larger  amount  for  my  Master  to 
whom  the  cause  belongs."  The  gentleman  re- 
plied, "  Mr.  Fuller,  I  beg  your  pardon.  I  stand 
reproved,"  and  instantly  gave  him  twice  the 
amount  for  Fuller's  Master. 

Least  of  all  is  the  matter  of  denominational 
pride,  a  motive  of  high  value  in  appealing  to  our 
churches  for  their  support  of  missions. 

None  of  these  motives  just  referred  to  is  ade- 
quate, because  it  stops  short  of  the  recognition 
of  the  organic  relation  to  Christ,  which  both  the 


THE    TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  26 1 

prisoner  of  Christ  on  the  distant  field  and  the 
prisoner  of  Christ  living  his  life  as  he  ought  on 
the  home  side  of  the  world,  on  precisely  the  same 
principles,  sustain  to  the  Lord  himself.  It  is  a 
case  of  two  members  of  one  and  the  same  mystical 
body  sustaining  a  similar  relation  to  the  head  of 
that  body,  and  so,  on  account  of  that  fact,  sus- 
taining mutual  relations  to  each  other. 

If,  therefore,  in  the  trend  of  these  lectures,  the 
principle  of  sacrifice  has  been  kept  to  the  front,  as 
an  essential  note  in  missionary  thought,  I  trust  it 
is  now  clear  that  it  is  no  morbid  or  pessimistic 
conception  of  it.  It  is  a  transfigured  sacrifice — 
sacrifice  attended  often  in  this  world,  and  certainly 
in  the  next,  with  a  glorification  so  great  that  noth- 
ing is  to  be  counted  loss  for  its  sake.  Said  Jesus 
to  the  two  on  the  way  to  Emmaus,  who  were  be- 
moaning his  crucifixion,  an  event  not  yet  under- 
stood, "  Ought  not  the  Christ  to  have  suffered 
these  things  and  to  enter  into  his  glory?  "  Again, 
in  describing  the  sense  in  which  the  good  Shep- 
herd laid  down  his  life  for  the  sheep,  he  reiterated 
the  principle,  "  Therefore  doth  my  Father  love 
me,  because  I  lay  down  my  life  that  I  may  take 
it  again."  All  death  on  the  part  of  Christ,  and 
the  whole  sacrificial  principle  in  the  life  of  his 


262  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

followers,  is  of  the  same  sort.  The  transfiguration 
scene,  although  peculiarly  personal  to  Christ,  was 
to  illustrate  that  although  salvation  was  to  be  by 
way  of  the  cross,  yet  it  was  to  issue  in  glory,  not 
for  Christ  only,  but  for  those  who  took  up  the 
work  he  laid  down  and  carried  it  on  in  world- 
evangelization. 

Not  long  since  I  heard  one  of  our  veteran  mis- 
sionaries— a  man  who  had  been  through  thirty- 
five  years  of  service,  involving  long  exposures  to 
the  perils  of  an  Indian  climate,  with  repeated 
separations  in  his  family  life,  and  who  had  given 
two  sons  to  service  among  the  heathen,  say,  ''  We 
missionaries  have  solved  the  problem  of  sacrifice 
— solved  it  in  the  experience  of  our  own  lives." 

And  this  is  the  universal  testimony  of  the  most 
devoted  and  prolonged  missionary  careers.  Mis- 
sionaries decline  to  speak  of  sacrifice  in  view  of 
the  higher  values  they  have  discovered.  Doctor 
Grenfell,  of  the  Labrador,  when  asked  to  speak  at 
Northfield  on  the  subject,  declared  that  he  did  not 
know  what  the  word  meant.  He  said  that  once 
when  out  boating  and  his  friend  fell  overboard 
he  plunged  in  and  rescued  him.  Would  men  call 
that  sacrifice  ?  And  later  he  fell  in  love  and  gave 
himself  away  to  the  girl  of  his  choice.    Was  there 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  263 

anything  to  cry  over  about  that?  Even  then,  on 
a  hot  July  day  in  Northfield,  he  was  "  longing 
for  a  cool  breeze  from  off  the  Labrador  coast." 

Moreover,  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  those 
who  shrink  away  from  transactions  which  involve 
the  surrender  of  a  lower  value  for  a  higher,  to 
that  same  extent  doom  themselves  forever  to  live 
on  the  plane  of  the  lower  realm.  It  is  easier  for  a 
camel  to  go  through  a  needle's  eye  than  for  such 
an  one  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

But  I  fancy  that  one  who  has  heard  me  in  all 
this  still  queries,  '*  But  is  not  my  life  in  danger 
of  becoming  small  and  shriveled  if  I  give  my- 
self over  to  such  a  renunciation  as  you  are  com- 
mending?" I  answer.  No;  because  it  is  re- 
nunciation of  the  untrue  master  for  the  proper 
one — Jesus  Christ;  for  all  finite  beings  are  de- 
pendent on  some  master;  they  can  have  but  a 
choice  of  masters.  Even  in  the  life  of  self-asser- 
tion the  soul  accepts  the  control  of  some  baser 
element  in  his  own  person  or  that  which  corre- 
sponds to  it  in  another.  And  so  he  becomes  a 
subject  after  all.  The  only  escape  is  to  accept 
Christ,  who  embodies  all  that  is  noblest  in  man, 
and  besides  can  carry  it  to  a  divine  height  by 
virtue  of  his  deity.     The  question  then  resolves 


264  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

itself  to  this :  by  renouncing  self  to  Christ,  will  he 
not  take  me  in  hand  and  make  out  of  me  some- 
thing unspeakably  greater  than  I  can  make  for 
myself  ? 

It  was  so  with  Abraham,  the  great  archetypal 
believer;  the  Babel-builders  said,  "Go  to,  let  us 
make  " — ''  make  bricks,  make  a  city,  make  a 
tower,  and  a  name  for  ourselves."  All  this  they  at- 
tempted to  do,  and  in  contempt  of  God's  intended 
purpose  for  them  to  people  and  bless  the  earth. 
And  we  know  the  result.  Their  plans  like  their 
speech  were  confounded,  and  their  vaunted  city 
and  tower  became  a  heap  of  rubbish — its  very 
name  was  confusion.  Per  contra,  ''  Now  the 
Lord  said  to  Abram,  Get  thee  out  from  thy  coun- 
try, and  from  thy  father's  house  (and  from  all 
things  else  that  center  in  thyself),  into  a  land  that 
I  will  show  thee,  and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great 
nation." 

How  great  was  the  outcome!  God  made  him 
the  father  of  many  nations — potentially  the  great- 
est missionary  of  the  ages — and  the  tower  of  re- 
nown began  to  rise  unthought  of  by  Abraham 
himself,  which  mounts  to  heaven,  imperishable 
forever.  It  was  the  personality  of  Abraham  that 
in  the  first  instance  became  so  great,  and  the  pro- 


THE   TRANSFIGURED   SACRIFICE  265 

cess  has  been  repeating  itself  ever  since.  It  was 
so  with  David  and  Daniel,  with  Paul,  with  Martin 
Luther,  and  Knox,  and  Wesley,  with  Carey,  and 
Morrison,  and  Hudson  Taylor.  The  thing  that 
has  impressed  me  more  than  all  else  in  reading 
the  biographies  of  missionaries,  and  in  personal 
acquaintance  with  great  numbers  of  them,  has 
been  to  note  what  personalities  they  became  as 
compared  with  the  shrinking  weakness  with  which 
they  entered  on  their  novitiate  or  with  some  con- 
temporaries, who  thought  them  throwing  away 
their  lives. 

Duff  became  the  incarnation  of  India  in  voicing 
her  need,  her  pathetic  appeal,  and  the  possibilities 
of  her  glory.  Livingstone,  Stanley,  and  Mackay, 
all  in  their  respective  places,  became  prophets 
and  apostles  of  Africa.  Morrison,  Burns,  Griffith 
John,  and  Ashmore,  tower  aloft  above  all  the 
mandarins,  the  moguls,  and  the  monarchs  of 
China's  almost  ageless  career;  while  Hepburn, 
Verbeck,  Williams,  Nathan  Brown,  and  Neesima 
will  more  and  more,  as  the  ages  pass,  outshine  all 
the  Shoguns,  Daimios,  and  Mikados  even,  that 
ever  rose  and  reigned  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom. 

There  is  nothing  like  a  call  of  God  to  his  great 
cosmic  enterprise  of  redeeming  the  world  and 


266  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

bringing  it  into  union  with  the  Infinite  to  make 
a  man  immortal.  The  task  creates  the  person- 
ahty.  In  this  Hfe  even,  there  is  no  single  line  of 
enterprise  in  the  world  so  adapted  to  place  men 
on  thrones  in  the  esteem  of  their  fellowmen,  as 
that  of  joining  the  apostolate  to  the  pagan  nations. 
Let  men  only  be  sure  of  their  divine  call — a 
matter  which  God  alone  can  make  clear  to  any 
man.  That  call  once  heard  and  followed  to  the 
end,  other  things  being  equal,  will  always  set  men 
among  princes,  and  the  fabric  of  their  toil  will 
endure  forever.  It  is  of  the  ambassador  of  God 
himself  I  now  speak;  and  though,  like  Paul,  he 
often  be  in  bonds,  he  will  sing  "  songs  in  the 
night,"  the  earthquake  will  rock  the  prison  house, 
many  a  yoke  will  be  broken,  and  the  prisoners  will 
go  free,  for  his  embassy  is  a  redeeming  errand  of 
the  Most  High,  and  for  the  glory  of  that  all  things 
were  made  and  have  their  being. 


LECTURE  XII 

THE  DISTINCTIVE  FUNCTIONS  OF 
MISSIONS— HOME  AND  FOREIGN 


LECTURE  XII 

THAT  Christian  missions  are  one  in  the 
mind  of  Christ  there  is  no  doubt.  That 
they  ought  to  be  one  in  the  spirit  in  which  they 
are  conducted  is  also  unquestioned.  That  in  prac- 
tice, however,  organized  enterprises,  popularly 
designated  as  "  missions,"  easily  become  opposed 
to  one  another,  in  the  weakness  of  human  nature, 
is  so  evident  as  sometimes  to  become  a  scandal  in 
the  church  of  God.  Controversies,  distracting  to 
the  churches,  on  occasions  have  arisen  which  have 
required  special  commissions  to  arbitrate.  The 
mischief  has  its  root  in  a  confusion  of  terms. 
Missions  in  its  early  etymological  sense  took  its 
rise  from  the  idea  of  the  apostolate  to  the  Gentiles. 
It  was  a  service  which  implied  the  going  out  of 
one  race  to  another,  and  preeminently  of  God's 
elect  Israel,  when  filled  with  the  new  spirit,  to  the 
Gentiles  or  heathen.  They  became  the  "  sent  of 
God,"  going  out  of  themselves  after  others,  to  im- 
part a  grace  not  previously  realized.  Such  were 
missions  in  the  New  Testament,  Pauline  sense, 

269 


270  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

and  such  they  were  conceived  to  be,  even  down  to 
the  time  of  Carey  and  Judson. 

As,  however,  under  the  stimulus  of  this  divine 
movement,  Christianity  grew  in  the  new  evangel- 
ical life,  and  especially  in  the  new  world,  various 
forms  of  Christian  activity  of  a  worthy  yet  sec- 
ondary sort  sprang  up ;  and  these  movements  also 
began  to  claim  for  themselves  the  title  of  '^  mis- 
sions." These  may  have  been  ordinary  evangel- 
ism, church  extension,  or  revival  movements ;  they 
may  have  been  confined  to  a  particular  locality, 
say  a  city,  the  frontiers,  the  nation,  or  incoming 
immigrants,  however  these  may  have  been  Chris- 
tianized in  some  degree  in  other  lands. 

All  these  forms  of  work  as  they  have  developed 
have  more  and  more  taken  on  elaborate  organiza- 
tion. And  the  result  is  that  the  term  "  mis- 
sions "  has  been  modified  from  its  original  im- 
port, and  with  it  the  forms  of  appeal  for  support 
have  become  more  specific,  often  narrowed,  and 
sometimes  partisan  and  competitive.  Where  this 
has  occurred  the  competition  has  grown  out  of 
the  weaknesses  and  jealousies  of  human  nature, 
rather  than  out  of  the  genuine  spirit  of  missions 
as  Christians.  We  need  not  here  go  into  any 
analysis  of  the  relative  claims  of  these  varied 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      27 1 

activities.  In  the  discussions  throughout  these 
lectures,  the  author  has,  in  the  main,  dealt  with 
what  is  known  as  "  world  missions  " ;  this  was 
unavoidable.  If  missions,  in  the  cosmic  sense  of 
the  term,  were  to  be  dealt  with,  the  ultimates  had 
to  be  considered,  the  concepts  of  Christ,  the  Paul- 
ine concepts,  the  timeless  principles,  those  which 
express  themselves  independently  of  place,  coun- 
try, nationality,  or  other  limits.  The  call  to  mis- 
sions is  intrinsically  to  man  as  man,  in  the  spirit 
of  the  final  Christ,  and  to  all  parts  of  the  earth — 
to  the  victims  of  sin,  far  and  near.  To  have  quali- 
fied the  term  *'  missions  "  by  limiting  designations 
would  have  made  the  treatment  another  thing 
altogether — a  mere  society-serving  apologetic, 
rather  than  a  kingdom-serving  interpretation. 

In  placing  the  emphasis,  therefore,  as  we  have, 
it  must  not  be  thought  there  is  unfriendly  dis- 
crimination against  departments  of  work  in  the 
one  kingdom,  because  we  have  magnified  the  real 
genius,  the  spirit  of  the  whole.  Other  discussions 
in  their  time  and  place  will  do  justice  to  the 
various  forms  of  work  not  specifically  treated 
here.  Such  world  Chrlstianizatlon  as  Is  contem- 
plated In  these  lectures  enters  no  special  plea  for 
mere  organization,  either  home  or  foreign,  tech- 


272  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

nically  speaking,  but  it  regards  the  cosmic  world 
salvation,  which  embraces  within  itself  all  forms 
of  departmental  work  in  any  sense  Christian. 

The  church,  confessedly,  has  many  functions. 
It  has  the  function  to  evangelize  first,  last,  and  all 
the  time.  This  is  its  primary  work.  It  has  the 
function  to  teach  and  edify  the  disciples  it  has 
made.  It  has  the  consoling  function — the  min- 
istry of  mercy ;  it  must  comfort  the  bereaved,  visit 
the  sick  and  the  imprisoned;  it  must  conduct  the 
Christian  funeral ;  and  it  must  secure  the  sanctified 
results  of  trial  and  misfortune.  It  has  also  to 
stimulate  and  encourage — not  necessarily  support 
— philanthropies,  hospitals,  and  asylums. 

But  it  has  also  the  all-embracing  function  of 
reproducing  itself  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  as  the 
movement  which  includes  all  the  others  we  have 
named,  and  much  besides.  Many  churches  are 
weak  and  morally  incompetent  at  this  point,  be- 
cause they  do  not  see  so  far  in  their  general  view 
of  the  kingdom.  Even  many  leaders  of  the 
church  are  very  short-sighted  in  this  regard. 
Two-fifths  of  the  churches,  broadly  speaking,  are 
apathetic  and  even  oblivious  of  their  responsibili- 
ties in  any  broad  way.  They  make  no  regular 
contributions  to  either  home  or  foreign  mission 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      273 

societies  in  the  course  of  a  year ;  they  have  no  sys- 
tem about  the  matter,  and  let  collections  for  any- 
thing outside  of  their  self-maintenance  go  by 
default. 

And  yet  note  some  of  the  elements  that  underlie 
the  very  charter  of  the  church.  The  membership 
of  the  church,  though  small,  is  composed  of  new- 
born souls;  and  great  is  the  promise  to  any  two 
of  them  that  shall  agree  (or  symphonize)  as 
touching  any  legitimate  object  of  true  prayer. 
Its  head  and  master  is  the  risen  Lord,  promised  to 
be  with  the  church  to  the  end  of  the  age.  The  bat- 
tle is  his,  and  waged  against  his  own  great  adver- 
sary, the  devil;  and  Christ  must  triumph  repre- 
sentatively. He  is  pledged  to  ''  supply  all  your 
needs  according  to  his  riches  in  glory,"  and  not 
according  to  their  apparent  strength  and  numbers. 
The  church  since  Pentecost,  in  the  divine  thought, 
dwells  in  the  enswathing  atmosphere  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Since  Christ  has  ascended,  the  gift  of  this 
Spirit — to  use  an  expression  from  the  realm  of 
electro-magnetism — constitutes  for  the  church  a 
"  field  of  force,"  such  as  no  other  institution  in 
the  world  has  for  its  environing  empowerment, 
and  correspondingly  great  things  are  expected 
from  it. 
s 


274  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

There  are  also  definite  principles  on  which  the 
church  is  expected  to  reckon :  The  living  Christ  is 
ever  among  them.  The  disciples  are  to  cherish 
great  expectations  from  that  presence. 

"  Bid  the  multitudes  recline,"  "  get  ready  for  a 
banquet,"  even  in  a  desert  place.  They  are  to 
get  the  limited  resources  they  have  actually  con- 
secrated— placed  into  the  Saviour's  hands.  They 
are  to  begin  to  distribute  to  the  needs  of  others, 
even  in  advance  of  the  increased  supply  for  them- 
selves, as  did  the  disciples  in  the  feeding  of  the 
five  thousand.  This  miracle,  like  the  others,  was 
a  ''  sign  "  of  the  "  greater  things  "  that  would  be 
wrought  in  the  ongoing  life  of  the  church.  The 
great  promise,  "  Fear  not,  little  flock,  it  is  your 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom," 
underlies  all  this. 

Viewing  the  various  types  of  work,  however, 
to  which  the  church  must  give  attention,  there  is 
one  discrimination  which,  at  this  stage  of  our 
thought,  we  deem  it  important  to  make,  a  distinc- 
tion also  which  may  help  such  as  are  disposed  to 
become  partisan  in  respect  to  organized  society 
interests  to  a  better  amity.  The  distinction  we 
have  in  mind  respects  the  differing  functions  that 
belong  to  so-called  home  and  foreign  missions. 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      275 

We  do  not  presume  to  pass  upon  the  relative  im- 
portance of  one  form  of  work  over  another. 
Probably  it  is  impossible  for  the  finite  mind  to  say. 
But  we  may  legitimately  note  the  different  func- 
tions served  by  one  form  as  distinguished  from 
another,  as  we  might  indicate  the  differences 
which  mark  off  the  work  of  man  from  that  of 
woman,  without  passing  on  their  relative  rank. 

In  the  large  emphasis  nowadays  so  often 
placed  on  missions  as  one  work,  by  which  oneness 
of  spirit  is  meant,  the  differences  in  function  are 
quite  overlooked  or  ignored.  It  is  this  matter  on 
which  for  a  few  moments  we  now  dwell. 

The  function  of  that  work  which  is  usually  car- 
ried on  by  home  mission  societies  we  should  say 
embraces  such  work  as  the  following:  (i)  Ex- 
tended evangelism  and  church  extension,  after  a 
specific  type,  embracing  edification.  (2)  Denomi- 
national propagandism,  in  which  out  of  a  good 
conscience  effort  springs  not  only  to  convert  peo- 
ple, but  also  to  start  them  off  on  such  principles 
and  methods  as  would  seem  best  to  help,  rather 
than  embarrass  and  impede  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity in  all  the  world.  A  conscientious  denomi- 
nationalism  is  by  no  means  an  unmitigated  evil; 
it  would  seem  a  necessity  in  view  of  human  nature 


2"]^  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

being  constituted  as  it  is,  with  varying  tempera- 
ments, training,  and  tastes.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  most  effective  Christianity  in  the  world  exists 
and  operates  in  denominational  forms.  And  in  my 
observation  those  who  clamor  loudest  for  a  united 
church — united  in  the  sense  of  a  uniform  church 
— are  the  very  last  to  be  willing  to  surrender  one 
iota  of  what  characterizes  their  own  type.  I 
found  it  so  in  the  much  talk  respecting  a  united 
church  in  China,  at  the  time  of  the  Morrison  cen- 
tenary in  that  land.  A  few  kinds  of  Presbyterians 
and  English  and  American  Episcopalians,  and 
several  types  of  Baptists,  indeed,  could  easily 
combine  after  a  fashion;  but  all  the  while  there 
were  such  firm  reservations  all  around  as  led  me 
to  believe  each  class  of  denominationalist  was 
more  than  willing  that  the  other  class  should  do 
all  the  relinquishing.  The  confessors  of  the  **  His- 
toric Bishopric,"  or  "  The  Westminster  Confes- 
sion," or  "  Believers'  Baptism,"  and  one  symboli- 
zing the  death  and  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  in- 
tended, come  what  may,  to  adhere  to  his  own  tra- 
ditional views.  In  fact,  as  I  believe,  if  the  native 
church  in  any  foreign  mission  field  were  to-day 
committed  to  any  uniformity  of  organization  or 
of  practice  that  might  be  specified,  it  would  be 


DISTINCTIVE   FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS     2'J'J 

only  a  generation  or  two  until  most  of  the  typical 
questions  which  have  differentiated — I  will  not 
say  divided — the  churches  in  the  past,  would  re- 
appear as  these  churches  began  to  think  and  or- 
ganize for  themselves ;  and  the  futility  of  the  un- 
dertaking would  be  manifest.  Even  the  late 
Edinburgh  Conference  had  no  definite  program 
that  would  carry  missions  beyond  this. 

Every  home  mission  society  in  the  world  is  one 
marked  by  large  emphasis  on  the  denominational 
idea  of  whatever  type.  It  would  not  be  supported 
if  it  were  not,  because  there  is  conscience  behind 
it,  and  a  peculiar  genius  to  which  people  are  de- 
voted even  though,  confessedly,  it  is  a  subordinate 
matter,  and  denotes,  as  we  have  above  said,  a 
secondary  type  of  missions  as  compared  with  the 
apostolic  type  with  its  great  emphasis  on  the  su- 
premacy of  the  kingdom. 

(3)  It  is  also  a  prominent  function  of  home 
missions,  especially  as  known  in  this  country,  as 
compared  say  with  England,  to  lay  hold  of  in- 
coming immigrants  to  our  land,  and  on  the  fron- 
tier States  and  Territories  where  they  settle,  as  in 
Minnesota  or  Montana,  and  help  them  not  only  to 
a  truer  type  of  Christianity  than  they  knew  in 
Europe,  but  also  as  a  means  thereto  to  become 


278  THE   TASK   WORTH   WHILE 

good  Baptists,  Methodists,  or  churchmen,  after 
the  traditions  of  the  supporting  propaganda.  This 
undoubtedly  has  to  be  done.  But  who  would 
challenge  the  statement  that  this  is  missions  in  a 
minor  sense  also,  as  compared  with  the  major 
apostolic  idea  of  giving  the  gospel  itself  in  its 
fundamental  elements,  say  to  ancient  Sinim,  or 
Arabia,  or  to  India? 

(4)  Then  the  work  of  affording  better  religious 
privileges  to  island  possessions  like  the  Philip- 
pines, or  Porto  Rico,  has  also  a  legitimate  place, 
and  great  is  the  measure  of  the  blessing  in  it.  But 
it  is  the  exercise  on  the  part  of  the  churches  of  a 
different  set  of  functions  than  some  of  which  we 
shall  shortly  speak.  The  work  among  freedmen 
in  the  Southland  has  brought  also  a  duty  of  vast 
magnitude  to  American  Christians;  and  for  this 
American  home  mission  societies  must  provide, 
with  such  varied  gifts  as  it  can  command;  and 
in  this  line  these  societies  have  been  greatly 
blessed. 

( 5 )  Work  among  aboriginal  Indians  also  comes 
under  the  designation  ''  home  missions."  People 
with  the  noblest  gifts  and  consecration,  like  the 
Morrows,  the  Petzoldts,  Miss  Belle  Crawford, 
and  others  have  been  found  for  it.    As  incidental 


DISTINCTIVE   FUNCTIONS   OF   MISSIONS     279 

to  all  the  above  forms  of  work,  much  emphasis  is 
also  naturally  placed  on  the  development  of  a  new 
patriotism  on  the  part  of  incoming  foreign  peo- 
ples for  their  adopted  land,  a  most  worthy  thing 
in  itself,  yet  by  no  means  the  equivalent  of  that 
higher  patriotism  for  the  kingdom,  the  patriotism 
which  complements  "  My  Country,  'tis  of  Thee  " 
by  "  Coronation." 

Let  every  kindred,  every  tribe 

On  this  terrestrial  ball, 
To  Him  all  majesty  ascribe, 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 

And  now  coming  to  the  foreign  mission  cause, 
by  which  we  mean  work  among  peoples  wholly 
pagan,  whose  ancestors  for  generations  have  been 
destitute  of  the  elemental  ideas  of  Christianity,  we 
strike  an  entirely  different  form  of  activity.  We 
shall  speak  in  no  terms  of  disparagement  of  those 
other  forms  of  work  just  described;  for  in  a  sense 
all  these  home  and  foreign  movements  are  depart- 
mental in  form.  We  call  attention  to  the  differ- 
ences in  the  type  of  work,  and  not  as  implying 
that  the  obligation  to  do  foreign  work  in  itself 
is  any  more  real,  though  it  may  be  more  pri- 
mary than  the  other  types.  The  functions  to  be 
regarded  in  the  performance  of  this  task  are  pe- 


28o  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

culiar,  and  they  do  thus  place  the  work  on  a  plane 
by  itself. 

The  task  requires  a  distinctive  type  of  qualifi- 
cation. There  are  reasons  also  why  it  demands 
from  the  churches  a  support  necessarily  different 
in  proportions  from  work  carried  on  under  home 
conditions  relatively  less  costly  and  dissimilar  in 
kind. 

I  note  some  of  the  functions  distinctive  of  this 
work: 

(i)  The  capacity  to  live  on  the  part  of  the 
missionary  and  his  family  a  life  of  expatriation. 
This  kind  of  missionary  must  become  an  exile 
for  Jesiis'  sake.  And  this  he  does  in  many  circum- 
stances full  of  pain  and  trial.  Of  course  most 
home  missionaries  would  prove  themselves  equal 
also  to  this  were  they  called  to  it.  But  this  does 
not  militate  against  the  fact  that  the  function  of 
such  a  life  is  different  from  that  of  the  missionary 
in  the  home  land.  (2)  The  subordination,  to  say 
the  least,  of  the  family  tie.  It  often  amounts  to 
practical  crucifixion  of  that  tie  for  life.  Children 
must  often  be  wrested  away  from  their  parents, 
their  natural  companions  and  teachers,  and  sent 
away  to  strangers  to  be  taught  and  trained,  as 
well  as  to  be  preserved  from  the  enervating  effects 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      281 

of  climate,  and  an  even  worse  moral  climate.  In 
such  cases  children  often  quite  forget  the  faces 
of  their  parents,  and  some  become  sadly  estranged 
from  the  missionary  idea. 

(3)  Then  comes  the  acquisition  of  foreign  lan- 
guages, an  art  for  which  peculiar  gifts  and  grace 
are  required.  Sometimes  it  is  never  successfully 
done,  and  missionaries  have  been  known  after 
years  to  write  to  their  Boards :  "  Oh,  bring  me 
home;  for  it  is  wrong  to  be  spending  the  Lord's 
money  in  trying  to  do  what  to  me  is  impossible." 
(4)  Then  the  learning  of  subtle  pagan  and  ethnic 
systems  of  religion  is  more  difficult  than  the  lan- 
guages. (5)  The  mastering  of  the  psychologies 
of  strange  races  also,  and  these  as  influenced  by 
ages  of  heathen  thought  and  custom  have  to  be 
grappled  with;  and  no  inferior  order  of  talent  is 
equal  to  it.  The  very  fact  also  that  all  this  has  to 
be  done  in  distant  parts  of  the  earth,  and  in  the 
face  of  such  climates — for  the  very  atmosphere  of 
heathendom  seems  to  become  bedeviled  by  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  who  himself  has 
been  the  chief  mischief-maker  wherever  Christ 
has  been  dethroned — makes  this  foreign  work  one 
of  great  costliness — cost  for  travel,  cost  for  ex- 
tended furloughs,  cost  for  medical  treatment,  and 


282  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

cost  of  educating  children  under  unnatural  condi- 
tions. Indeed,  the  whole  matter  is  so  different  a 
thing  from  every  other  in  the  world  that  the  idea 
of  anything  else  ever  becoming  jealous  of  it  seems 
utterly  preposterous.  The  angels  must  weep  and 
the  devil  must  laugh  at  such  a  sight  among  the 
sons  of  men.  As  if  missions  to  the  heathen, 
with  ninety-five  cents  of  every  dollar  raised  in 
this  country  for  Christian  work  applied  here,  the 
five  cents  remaining  only  going  to  the  heathen, 
were  ever  in  danger  of  getting  too  greatly  the  ad- 
vantage over  home  work  in  America!  Yet  have 
we  not  heard  that  the  great  layman's  movement 
is  thought  by  some  to  be  exclusive  in  its  policy, 
because  under  the  guidance  of  a  few  rare  men  of 
affairs  in  the  land,  who  at  last  had  caught  a 
vision  of  what  Christ  for  nineteen  centuries  had 
desired  them  to  get,  they  resolved  to  use  the  for- 
eign mission  incentive  to  give  new  initiative  to  the 
accomplishment  of  an  obedience  to  that  Commis- 
sion which  as  yet  is  so  scandalously  short  of  ful- 
filment? Surely  we  ought  to  be  able  to  distin- 
guish between  new  initiative  and  exclusion  of 
other  things.  The  very  men  who  have  taken  the 
late  bold  initiative  are  the  foremost  promoters  also 
of  every  known  form  of  Christian  work  at  home, 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      283 

and  can  they  not  be  trusted  to  work  out  a  new 
demonstration  under  the  sun  of  a  special  divine 
achievement?  These  men  know  the  genius  of 
Christianity,  and  they  know  history  also.  They 
have  observed  that  if  men  under  the  inspiration  of 
some  great  altruistic  idea  will,  for  the  time,  for- 
get self-interests  in  it  even  for  their  own  souls, 
long  enough  to  realize  the  divineness  of  the  act, 
and  to  feel  the  reflex  of  it  also,  every  immediate 
and  near-by  interest  on  the  home  field  will  shortly 
become  the  more  fruitful.  "  There  is  that  scat- 
tereth  and  yet  increaseth."  Then  let  our  lay- 
men first  bring  the  agelong  delayed  boon  of  a 
gospel  message  to  the  heathen  if  they  will,  and 
trust  God  for  the  outcome.  "  Christianity  is  such 
a  commodity  that  the  more  of  it  we  export  to  the 
heathen  the  more  we  shall  have  left."  Don't  call 
the  colors  back  just  when  there  is  hope  that  the 
parapets  of  the  enemy  are  to  be  carried.  Move 
the  halting  men  up  to  the  colors.  The  fact  that 
one  tribe  of  Israel  was  commissioned  to  bear  the 
ark  at  the  head  of  the  column  did  not  imply  that 
the  other  tribes  were  to  be  discarded  in  the  desert 
marches.  Even  pooling  the  collections,  in  the 
long  run,  has  not  proved  the  best  way  to  increase 
Christian  giving  in  our  churches,  as  a  whole. 


284  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Having  thus  distinguished  the  functions  of 
the  two  outstanding  types  of  mission  work,  I  pass 
to  speak  of  two  matters  closely  related  thereto, 
viz.,  the  relation  of  the  pastor  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  church  with  respect  to  them,  and 
also  the  large  use  that  is  to  be  made  of  society 
organizations  to  aid  the  expression  of  these 
functions. 

First,  as  to  the  pastor.  He  is  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed leader  of  the  church.  He,  himself,  is  not 
to  do  all  the  forms  of  work  implied,  but  he  is  to 
put  himself  in  active  relation  to  them  all.  In 
order  to  do  this,  he  himself  must  be  the  embodi- 
ment of  what  he  would  have  his  church  become. 
He  must  recognize  himself  as  a  denizen  of  the 
whole  earth,  as  vitally  related  to  every  form  of 
Christian  work  doing  on  the  planet.  The  moment 
he  stops  short  of  that  he  drops  into  some  form  of 
narrowness,  and  his  whole  parish  will  feel  its  in- 
fluence. 

He  must  discern  that  the  Bible  revelation,  his 
great  book  of  study,  is  a  universal  book;  and  as 
the  living  interpreter  of  it  he  must  afford  his 
people  its  viewpoint  respecting  all  men;  in  the 
light  of  the  Scriptures,  he  must  have  a  growing 
sense  of  the  susceptibility  of  all  men  to  the  gospel, 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS    OF    MISSIONS      285 

and  the  obligation  of  all  his  people  to  help  give  it 
to  all. 

The  pastor  should  aim  to  be  an  adept  in  bring- 
ing his  parishioners  en  rapport  with  himself,  that 
they  may  share  his  motive  for  all  these  things. 
Moreover,  the  pastor  should  not  rest  until  he  shall 
have  brought  his  church,  as  a  whole,  into  the  reali- 
zation that  it  is  the  function  of  the  church  as 
such,  and  not  merely  his  function  as  its  minister, 
to  serve  the  cause  of  Christ  broadly  respecting  all 
missionary  matters.  The  church  is  more  abiding 
than  its  minister.  Ministers  may  pass,  one  gene- 
ration after  another,  but  the  church  remains,  and 
it  plays  a  large  part  in  developing  other  pastors, 
and  also  all  sorts  of  missionary  workers.  The 
church  is  a  wholly  unique  organism;  it  is  more 
than  an  organization,  more  than  any  sort  of  busi- 
ness corporation ;  it  is  alive  by  virtue  of  its  union 
with  Christ  its  head,  and  its  vitality  is  to  share 
in  the  vital  expression  of  Christ  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  A  pastor,  therefore,  who  duly  compre- 
hends his  function  of  leadership  will  aim  to  bring 
the  church  he  serves  more  and  more  into  the  spirit 
of  its  Founder;  that  is,  the  church  will  become 
deeply  sensible  of  having  something  to  impart  to 
the  world.     The  sense  of  this  incarnate  life  of 


286  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Christ  within  them  will  seek  to  extend  itself  to 
the  utmost  limits.  Anything  of  so  vital  worth 
and  so  divinely  wrought  must  impart  itself — 
must  extend  the  incarnation. 

A  church  truly  led  must  also  be  broadly  taught 
respecting  the  continuous  historic  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity from  apostolic  times  till  now ;  and  it  must 
identify  itself  with  that  spread  more  and  more  till 
the  end  comes. 

A  church  thus  led  and  indoctrinated  will  also, 
through  its  mission  studies  and  otherwise,  be  ever 
growing  in  its  geographical  and  racial  imagina- 
tion, or  it  will  become  provincial ;  and  the  pastor 
is  chiefly  responsible  which  it  shall  be. 

A  pastor  who  wisely  leads  will  also  never  rest 
until  his  church  becomes  strong  and  intense  in  its 
intercessory  relations — its  prayer  life  respecting 
all  mankind.  Prayer  in  this  sense  is  but  the  pas- 
sion of  Christ  reaching  out  to  embrace  the  uni- 
verse, and  the  prayer  of  the  church  is  but  coming 
into  the  circuit  of  that  passion,  the  identification 
of  its  thought  and  life  with  Christ.  It  starts  from 
God  and  returns  to  God.  Such  prayer  is  itself 
created  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  "  who  helpeth  our  in- 
firmities "  and  "  with  groanings  which  cannot  be 
uttered  "  fulfils  a  function  peculiarly  divine. 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      287 

There  are  many  ways  which  a  pastor  may  em- 
ploy in  developing  such  a  church  as  we  have  in 
mind  missionwise.  He  may  become  a  profound 
expositor  of  Scripture.  His  sermons  thus  deeply 
grounded  in  Scripture  teaching,  and  concretely  il- 
lustrated by  facts  and  incidents  in  the  life  and 
experience  of  the  great  missionaries,  will  reveal 
that  the  Bible  is  throughout  a  missionary  book; 
that  it  is  a  modern  as  well  as  timeless  book;  and 
a  parish  will  thus  be  trained  to  see  Bible  principles 
alive  and  working  in  China,  India,  America, 
Africa — everywhere.  Missions  may  thus  be 
preached  in  every  sermon,  not  formally,  of  course, 
but  impliedly.  On  occasions  a  great  biographical 
or  historical  discourse  may  be  preached,  setting 
forth  a  personality  or  an  epoch,  or  some  great  is- 
sue like  the  missionary  import  of  our  late  war 
with  Spain,  or  the  Portsmouth  treaty,  or  the 
forming  of  the  new  South  African  nation,  or  the 
career  of  Stanley.  There  are  topics  without  limit 
in  these  lines,  and  the  pastor  who  discourses  on 
such  themes,  in  the  largest  view  of  the  kingdom, 
will  develop  intelligent  and  broadminded  laymen 
who  will  be  proud  to  have  a  Christian  statesman 
as  well  as  evangelist  in  their  pulpit. 

A  pastor  does  well  to  have  two  or  three  great 


2SS  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

cosmic  themes  before  him  for  continuous  weeks, 
meanwhile  reading  up  on  them;  and  at  length  he 
will  project  into  the  minds  of  his  parishioners  a 
discourse  that  will  be  epoch-making  in  their  lives 
and  in  his  own.  Nor  can  a  pastor  thus  planning 
and  working  fail  to  have  periodic  missionary  con- 
certs and  the  like  well  studied  and  definitely 
worked  out.  He  will  also  extend  the  use  of  lit- 
erature, magazines,  books,  and  special  articles 
throughout  his  parish.  He  will  sometimes  bring 
into  his  pulpit  a  magazine  or  book  and  commend 
something  special  in  them,  and  he  will  see  that  a 
missionary  library  is  started  in  his  church  or 
Sunday-school.  Of  course  such  a  man  will  use 
missionary  committees  and  organize  mission- 
study  classes  and  the  like,  and  be  himself  at  the 
center  of  them  for  teaching  and  suggestion. 

A  church  thus  led  will  of  course  take  on  the 
habit  of  regular  and  increased  missionary  giving, 
and  especially  if  the  pastor  himself  contributes  as 
he  ought. 

Nor  should  I  fail  to  mention  the  function  of 
the  pastor  to  search  out  and  seek  to  enlist  certain 
of  his  young  people,  who  but  await  the  right  kind 
of  touch  of  their  natural  religious  leader  to  en- 
list them  for  the  service  of  the  Christian  ministry 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      289 

at  home  or  missionary  service  abroad.  If  the 
pastor  himself  is  in  love  with  his  calling,  he  is 
sure  to  win  some  to  the  same  ministry,  and  if  he 
loves  missions  and  really  serves  them  con  amore, 
his  young  people  will  catch  the  vision  and  the  fire. 

Now,  if  there  are  wanting  qualities  and  char- 
acteristics like  these  in  the  pastorate,  nothing  else 
can  serve  to  render  a  church  the  missionary  body 
our  Lord  intends  every  church  to  be/ 

But,  secondly,  the  fact  that  the  two  great  types 
of  mission  work  have  different  functions,  only 
accentuates  the  reasons  for  making  the  most  of  the 
societies  which  represent  them.  Indeed,  every 
pastor  ought  to  be  thankful  that  these  great  fiscal 
agencies  exist  for  his  use  and  for  the  use  of  every 
church  in  the  land.  That  is  exactly  what  they  are 
for.  They  are  a  great  arm  which  the  church  may 
use  to  extend  its  service  in  every  direction  and 
where  the  church  itself  cannot  go.  To  hear  some 
critics  of  these  societies  which  are  obliged  to 
spend  a  reasonable  percentage  of  their  income  for 
the  salaries  of  secretaries,  offices,  and  clerical  hire, 
with  preparation  of  literature,  etc.,  one  would 
think  that  these  persons  supposed  there  could  be 

1  See  account  of  the  experience  of  Rev.  C.  E.  Bradt  with  a  church  in 
Wichita,  Kans.,  in  Report  of  Student  Volunteer  Convention,  Toronto,  1902. 


290  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

found  a  way  whereby  the  dollar  of  a  contributor 
might  be  dropped  right  down  upon  the  head  of  a 
heathen  in  Africa  or  China  without  any  middle 
agencies. 

A  moment's  thought  will  show  that  this  is  im- 
practicable ;  and,  therefore,  if  we  would  create  an 
atmosphere  wherein  myriads  of  our  fellows  will 
feel  our  influence,  there  must  be  organized  and 
salaried  agencies.  These  agencies  condition  the 
possibility  of  the  church's  broadest  and  highest 
good.  If,  in  the  aggregate,  large  amounts  of 
money  are  expended,  let  it  also  be  remembered 
that  vast  spheres  of  influence  are  also  created  and 
ever  becoming  more  extended. 

I  think  also  the  pastors  do  wisely  to  keep  the 
concrete  and  graphic  facts  of  the  various  types  of 
work  before  their  people;  while  for  certain  pur- 
poses and  within  certain  periods,  there  may  be  a 
value  in  presenting  the  mission  work  of  a  denomi- 
nation in  the  aggregate  before  the  churches,  yet 
in  the  long  run  if  the  distinctive  phenomena — say 
of  work  like  that  for  freedmen  in  the  South,  or 
that  of  Doctor  Mosely  in  Cuba,  or  the  chapel  car 
and  colporter  work  on  the  frontiers,  or  the 
work  among  Karens  or  Telugus  in  India,  or 
the   Visayans    in    the    Phillipines — ^be   not   kept 


DISTINCTIVE    FUNCTIONS   OF    MISSIONS      29I 

before  our  people  in  their  distinctive  features,  the 
respective  causes,  and  in  the  end  the  kingdom, 
will  suffer. 

Moreover,  let  people  in  their  own  way,  ac- 
cording to  predilection,  make  specific  contribu- 
tions, build  and  endow  mission  schools  and  hospi- 
tals without  jealousy,  one  society  of  another.  If 
an  official  of  a  given  society  cannot  endure  to  see 
this,  because  it  does  not  help  on  the  particular 
institution  of  which  he  is  an  officer,  it  should  be 
easy  to  cause  him  to  understand  that  smaller  jobs, 
measurable  with  his  scant  capacity,  await  him, 
and  the  sooner  he  finds  them  the  better. 

It  is  the  value  of  the  concrete  for  which  we 
plead.  The  very  fact  that  an  agent  may  become 
jealous  of  its  exercise  is  proof  of  the  power  it  has 
gained  over  the  donor  of  some  notable  gift,  say 
to  the  Spellman  Seminary,  or  to  the  University 
of  Chicago,  or  to  Rangoon  or  Robert  College,  or 
to  a  score  of  such  institutions  as  those  to  which 
the  late  Mr.  J.  S.  Kennedy  devoted  his  millions. 
On  the  whole,  there  is  no  substitute  for  such  forms 
of  giving  as  have  ever  characterized  the  largest 
benevolences  of  the  world.  Only  let  pastors,  both 
by  private  influence  and  public  allusion,  keep, 
not  the  societies  as  such,  nor  even  their  own  de- 


292  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

nomination  as  such,  but  the  types  of  work  for 
which  they  stand,  before  their  parishioners,  and 
great  offerings  will  be  made,  noble  wills  will  be 
executed,  and  the  treasuries  of  the  Lord  will  over- 
flow. 


LECTURE  XIII 

FOR  A  WITNESS  AND  A  CONSUM- 
MATION 


LECTURE  XIII 

IN  this  lecture  we  take  up  a  particular  deliver- 
ance of  Jesus,  which  Hes  at  the  very  root  of 
the  world  evangelization  enterprise.  This  utter- 
ance is  the  answer  he  gave  to  his  disciples  just 
prior  to  his  ascension,  when  they  inquired  of  him, 
**  Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore  again  the 
kingdom  to  Israel  ?  "  The  reply  of  Jesus  to  this 
query  contains,  as  no  other  passage  in  the  New 
Testament  does  in  so  brief  a  form,  the  entire 
problem,  philosophy,  and  manner  of  triumph  of 
Christian  missions. 

The  answer  was  given  in  the  words,  ''  It  is 
not  for  you  to  know  times  or  seasons  which  the 
Father  hath  set  within  his  own  authority.  But 
ye  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
come  upon  you ;  and  ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both 
in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria,  and 
unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth." 

The  ascended  Christ  is  thus  declared  to  be  the 
potency  of  all  the  coming  triumphs  of  the  church. 
This  answer  concerns  four  points,  springing  out  of 

295 


296  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

entirely  unique  concepts,  found  only  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  combines  the  elements  of  Christ's 
plan  concerning  his  spiritual  empire.  These 
points  relate : 

1.  To  the  cosmic  empowering  center  from 
which  the  work  of  Christ  is  to  proceed. 

2.  To  the  nature  of  the  work  undertaken. 

3.  To  the  means  to  be  employed. 

4.  To  the  form  of  the  triumph. 

The  first  New  Testament  idea  essential  to  a 
grasp  of  the  plan  of  Jesus,  is  that  the  center  from 
which  our  missionary  undertakings  shall  operate 
should  be  properly  located.  Evermore  there  is  a 
tendency  to  locate  this  capital  falsely.  This  mis- 
take was  expressed  in  the  query  of  the  Jewish 
disciples,  when  they  implied  that  Jerusalem  should 
be  made  the  capital  of  the  new  empire.  Jerusalem 
was  indeed  the  capital  of  the  provisional  king- 
dom, but  it  was  a  cardinal  error  to  suppose  it 
could  continue  to  be  the  governing  center  of  the 
world-redemption.  But  this  error  was  not  a 
Jewish  one  merely;  it  was  human,  and  is  ever- 
more being  repeated.  In  the  fourth  century,  when 
Constantine  had  proclaimed  the  conversion  of 
the  Roman  empire,  the  new  city  of  Constantinople 
was  tempted  to  think  itself  the  capital.     Later, 


FOR   A   WITNESS  297 

when  the  Latin  Church  had  seated  itself  in  Rome, 
that  strategic  Western  center,  the  Vatican  usurped 
the  throne.  Still  later,  when  Augustine  had 
crossed  the  English  Channel  and  promulgated  the 
gospel  in  Britain,  Canterbury  became  a  holy  see, 
and  ever  since  the  Anglican  Church  has  been 
prone  to  regard  itself  as  the  new  theocracy.  In 
later  days,  the  Pilgrims  bore  Christ's  standard  to 
our  American  shores,  and  Plymouth  Rock,  or  its 
substitutes — Boston,  New  York,  or  Chicago — ^be- 
came our  temple,  our  St.  Sophia,  our  Vatican, 
our  Canterbury. 

With  each  division  of  the  church — the  Jewish, 
the  Eastern,  the  Roman,  the  Anglican,  and  the 
American — the  temptation  has  recurred  to  put 
some  civic  capital  in  the  stead  of  Christ's  exalted 
seat.  And  thus  the  kingdom,  again  and  again, 
has  been  thrown  off  its  real  center.  Looking  out- 
ward from  such  an  earth  capital  toward  the  cir- 
cumference of  this  artificial  circle,  the  church 
assumes  that  just  where  she  sits  in  imagined  en- 
thronement is  the  sun  of  the  system,  and  she  in- 
quires how  far  outward  to  fancied  satellites  she 
can  afford  to  shine.  Meanwhile  she  prays,  "  Lord, 
wilt  thou  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel,  to  Rome, 
to  Britain,  to  America  ?    These,  these  are  the  con- 


298  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

servators — ours,  ours  is  the  primacy — restore  to 
us !  restore  to  us !  " 

The  error  in  all  this  reasoning  is  in  locating 
the  throbbing  heart  of  the  Christian  circulatory 
system  in  the  wrong  place.  It  is  not  in  the  ex- 
tremities; neither  in  Jerusalem,  nor  Constantino- 
ple, nor  in  any  ambitious  civic  or  social  center  of 
the  world — Eastern  or  Western. 

The  capital  of  this  kingdom  is  in  the  heavens — 
''  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,"  where  Christ 
sits  "  from  henceforth,  expecting,  till  his  enemies 
be  made  his  footstool."  There  is  but  one  "  Holy 
See,"  but  one  cathedral  chair  in  the  universe.  On 
that  chair  sits  no  earthly  bishop  or  pope,  but  Je- 
sus Christ,  the  risen,  ascended,  reigning,  coming 
Lord.^  ''  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  sit  thou 
at  my  right  hand  until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy 
footstool."  "  The  Lord  at  thy  right  hand  shall 
smite  through  kings  in  the  day  of  his  wrath;  he 
shall  rule  among  the  heathen." 

The  chronic,  ever-recurring  vice  of  the  church, 
like  that  of  the  Ptolemaic  star-gazers  of  old,  is  to 
make  the  political,  commercial,  or  ecclesiastical 
center  of  some  part  of  earth  the  dominating  fac- 


1  Of  course  the  Holy  Spirit  also  would  enthrone  himself  within  the  heart 
of  every  individual  believer. 


FOR   A    WITNESS  299 

tor  over  all  things.  Our  Christianity  therefore 
becomes  earth-centered  and  chaotic  rather  than 
divinely  cosmic.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  that 
view  of  the  person  of  Christ  which  magnifies  the 
historic  Jesus  at  the  expense  of  the  cosmic  and 
timeless  Christ.  The  difficulty  with  the  view  of 
missions  entertained  by  the  great  majority  of 
Christians  of  our  time,  is  that  it  is  two  thousand 
years  behind  the  times.  It  is  Ptolemaic ;  it  needs 
to  become  Copernican.  Shall  we  not  then  put  the 
Christ  on  the  throne  where  he  really  is,  in  his  ex- 
pectant ascension  glory,  and  form  all  our  per- 
spective from  the  real  capital?  From  Christ's 
exalted  outlook  the  whole  earth  is  a  mission  field. 
There  has  been  but  one  real  missionary  in  this 
world,  viz.,  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  Copernican  view  of  the  kingdom,  it 
is  as  far  from  the  right  hand  of  the  Father 
to  Boston,  or  Chicago,  as  it  is  to  Peking  or 
Calcutta;  and  conversely,  Tibet,  or  the  Congo 
land  IS  as  near  to  the  throne  as  Jerusalem  or 
New  York. 

It  is  true  this  mission  enterprise  has  got  on 
more  rapidly  among  us  Anglo-Saxons  than  it 
has  with  our  Chinese  or  African  brethren.  But 
it  is  essentially  the  same  sort  of  work,  justified 


3CX)  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

by  the  same  sanctions,  dependent  on  the  same 
atoning  work,  wrought  by  the  same  spirit ;  as  it  is 
part  of  one  divine  plan  of  world-renewal.  O  thou 
proud  Jewish,  Anglican,  or  American  disciple, 
what  hast  thou  that  thou  didst  not  receive  ?  Didst 
thou  suppose  thou  wert  the  favorite  of  heaven 
because  times  or  seasons  blessed  thee  first  ?  Nay, 
nay,  on  thee,  O  England,  or  America,  as  on  one 
of  the  far-out  provinces  of  Christ's  empire,  the 
sun  of  Christ's  salvation  early  shone;  but  only 
that  thou  mightest  pass  on  thy  light  to  thy  sister 
sphere.  Viewed  from  where  Christ  sits,  our 
Western  relation  to  the  yet  pagan  world  is  not 
that  of  primary  to  satellite,  but  of  satellite  to  its 
sister  satellite. 

The  second  biblical  idea  which  we  emphasize 
concerns  the  nature  of  the  work  undertaken,  and 
is  this — the  creation  of  a  new  spiritual  common- 
wealth. The  problem  of  missions  is  how  to  pro- 
duce among  the  peoples  of  the  earth  a  new  em- 
pire with  a  new  spontaneity  of  righteousness  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  loyalty  to  God  through  him. 
The  kingdom  of  Christ  can  never  come  on  earth 
till  this  is  realized.  Rather  than  to  seek  this  in 
the  large,  the  tendency  is  strong  to  narrow  the 
aim;  to  be  ambitious  that  certain  territory — our 


FOR   A    WITNESS  3OI 

own  land  for  example — shall  be  exalted  to  pri- 
macy in  this  new  empire,  as  if  that  were  affirmed 
in  the  program  of  the  New  Testament.  Christ 
would  teach  us  to  place  emphasis  on  the  more 
basal  process,  to  reproduce  the  heart  of  Christ 
within  all  peoples,  trusting  for  the  territorial 
acquisition  to  come  afterward,  as  a  sequence  in  a 
sovereign  plan. 

The  disciples  were  eager  to  know  if  the  king- 
dom would  be  restored  to  Israel  as  a  proud  and 
self-centered  people,  and  in  their  own  territory. 
Jesus  virtually  replied,  "  Nay,  rather,  my  aim  is 
on  a  world-scale  to  make  men  Israelites/'  Let  us 
modernize  the  terms  in  which  Jesus  spoke.  All 
the  world  knows  with  what  humiliation  and 
chagrin  France  was  compelled  at  the  close  of  the 
last  war  with  Germany  to  cede  to  that  empire 
the  historic  provinces  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  It 
is  an  open  secret  that  ever  since,  in  her  national 
heart,  France  has  cherished  a  deep  and  settled 
purpose  never  to  rest  until  she  shall  have  re- 
covered those  lost  provinces. 

There  has  been  a  suspicion  abroad — perhaps  not 
without  much  of  truth — that  at  the  very  root  of 
the  alliance  between  France  and  Russia  is  a  secret 
understanding  that  in  case  France  will  stand  by 


302  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

Russia  for  some  future  occupation  of  Constanti- 
nople, Russia  will  lend  a  hand  in  the  expected  cru- 
cial hour  when  France  shall  rise  for  the  recovery 
of  Alsace-Lorraine.  Let  us  for  illustration  sup- 
pose the  hour  has  come,  and  France  in  the  per- 
sons of  her  representatives  is  standing  in  the 
presence  of  some  mighty  czar  of  the  future. 
She  presents  her  plea  in  words  like  these :  ''  Sire, 
wilt  thou  not  at  this  time  restore  the  lost  provinces 
to  France?  Think  of  our  past  humiliation,  our 
ancient  glory,  the  present  crisis,  the  treaty  rela- 
tions. Let  this  be  the  hour  for  the  realization  of 
our  national  hope.  Restore,  restore  the  kingdom 
to  us!"  What  elation  would  fill  the  heart  of 
Frenchmen  everywhere  if  such  a  prayer  were 
about  to  be  fulfilled !  How  great  a  statesman  he 
would  prove  himself  who  could  negotiate  such  a 
consummation !  What  would  not  France  give  for 
the  rising  up  of  such  a  restorer!  But  I  can  con- 
ceive something  greater  than  this  for  France. 
Suppose  at  the  very  hour  when  the  French  repre- 
sentatives are  making  their  appeal  to  Russia,  a 
calm,  mysterious  personage,  deeply  in  sympathy 
with  France,  should  stand  forth  before  the  hesi- 
tating czar,  and  should  thus  address  his  French 
compatriots :  "  My  brethren,  you  ask  too  small  a 


FOR   A   WITNESS  3O3 

boon ;  my  proposal  is  something  vastly  larger  than 
this,  viz.,  The  conferment  of  a  power,  subtle  and 
spiritual,  whereby  shall  be  wrought  within  the 
breast  of  the  Alsatians  once  more,  and  of  all 
European  peoples  as  well,  a  French  heart!  This 
subtle  power  is  mine  to  give.  I  propose,  repre- 
sentatively, to  make  men  Frenchmen !  not  only  in 
Alsace-Lorraine,  but  in  Germany  itself,  in  Russia, 
in  Austria,  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Britain,  and  even 
in  Turkey !  Nay,  more,  let  us  extend  this  potency 
to  India,  China,  all  Asia,  Africa,  and  to  the 
western  hemisphere,  and  to  all  islands  of  the  sea, 
until  from  among  all  mankind  there  shall  stand 
forth  an  elect  people,  loyal  to  one  banner  and  one 
government,  and  that  forever  French !  "  Talk  of 
statesmanship!  How  would  you  describe  the 
powers  of  a  personage,  the  height  of  whose  ideals, 
the  skill  of  whose  methods,  politically  speaking, 
could  make  good  such  a  proposal? 

Europe  has  produced  many  Titanic  statesmen 
in  recent  times.  We  think  of  the  Gladstones,  the 
Bismarcks,  the  Gortschakoffs  and  Cavours,  men 
of  vast  powers,  who  have  enlarged  and  unified 
States.  But  all  the  statesmen  that  have  come  and 
gone  for  a  thousand  years  combined  in  one,  in- 
cluding Napoleon,  have  not  risen  to  an  ideal  so 


304  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

lofty  as  this.  But  such  an  ideal  was  Christ's  for 
the  whole  world.  None  has  been  able  to  unite 
Europe  alone — not  to  speak  of  the  rest  of  the 
world. 

Here  is  "  the  Man  of  Destiny,"  to  whom  all 
nations,  all  thrones,  and  all  crowns  potentially 
belong.  He  was  the  only  master  of  statecraft  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  He  came  with  a  power 
equal  to  the  creation  of  a  new  empire,  with  a  new 
citizenship,  and  a  new  loyalty  universal  and  un- 
ending.   Such  was  the  statesmanship  of  Jesus. 

Up  to  the  present  hour  how  has  it  wrought? 
Let  the  day  of  Pentecost  answer.  Let  the  prog- 
ress of  the  gospel  during  the  first  three  centuries 
since  the  ascension  further  tell.  Let  the  work  of  St. 
Gregory,  the  illuminator  among  the  Nestorians, 
of  Boniface  in  Germany,  of  Anschar  among 
the  Scandinavians,  of  Augustine  in  Britain,  of 
Patrick  in  Ireland,  of  Columba  and  St.  Ninian  in 
lona  and  Scotland,  speak  for  him.  Still  on  the 
conquest  moves.  Wycliffe  produces  the  English 
Bible.  Luther  storms  the  papal  stronghold. 
Whitefield  and  Wesley  fill  a  century  with  a  flam- 
ing evangelism.  Then  what  triumphs  came  with 
the  last  century  of  modern  missions!  The  tri- 
umvirate at  Serampore  forms  the  base  of  a  battle- 


FOR   A   WITNESS  305 

line  for  all  Asia.  Judson  opens  Burma;  Mor- 
rison forces  the  gates  of  China;  Livingstone  and 
Moffat  light  up  Africa ;  Williams,  Patteson,  Cal- 
vert, and  Paton  illumine  the  South  Seas,  until 
to-day  we  could  assemble  in  one  gathering  repre- 
sentatives of  hundreds  of  races  of  the  earth,  none 
of  whom  could  understand  the  tongue  of  the 
other,  and  yet  to  the  name  and  authority  of 
Jesus  all  would  devoutly  bow.  **  Ye  shall  receive 
power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon 
you  " — power  to  bring  about  a  result  like  this. 
How  unspeakably  larger  such  a  result  than  that 
which  the  disciples  asked! 

But  what  is  the  means  whereby,  on  the  human 
side,  this  sublime  achievement  is  to  be  realized? 
We  are  told  it  is  to  be  through  Christian  witness- 
ing. "  Ye  shall  become  my  witnesses."  The  en- 
duement  of  power  when  it  came  was  to  result  in 
one  specific  thing,  namely,  the  disciples  would 
be  constituted  '*  witnesses."  Doubtless  this  term 
has  been  much  abused — narrowed  to  inadequate 
meanings.  Notwithstanding  all,  the  term,  prop- 
erly understood,  is  the  most  comprehensive  one 
in  the  New  Testament  descriptive  of  the  church's 
service  in  the  outworking  of  world-redemption. 
It  is  a  word  we  cannot  spare.  It  occurs  in 
u 


306  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

various  forms  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
times  in  the  New  Testament,  thirty  times  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Our  word  "  martyr  "  is  one 
rendering  of  it.  It  imphes  a  testimony  even  unto 
death;  it  may  be  a  hfelong  testimony;  it  includes 
a  body  of  doctrine;  it  embraces  a  set  of  institu- 
tions; it  admits  of  the  use  of  every  element  of 
human  skill,  a  great  variety  of  second  causes ;  and 
it  never  reaches  the  acme  of  its  power  until  all  the 
energies  just  referred  to  are  charged  with  the 
Holy  Spirit's  might. 

Jesus  himself  was  primarily  a  witness,  the  one 
"  Faithful  and  True  Witness,"  as  described  in  the 
Revelation.  His  primary  work  was  not  an  argu- 
ment, but  a  message.  When  Pilate  had  arraigned 
him  and  inquired,  "Art  thou  a  king,  then?" 
Jesus  answered,  "  To  this  end  was  I  born,  and 
for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should 
hear  zmtness  unto  the  truth."  Surely  there  was 
nothing  superficial  in  such  a  witness.  Peter,  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  in  all  the  sublimity  of  that 
courage,  insight,  and  convincing  power  which 
brought  three  thousand  souls  to  their  spiritual 
birth,  was  doing  nothing  more  nor  less  than  wit- 
nessing to  the  gospel.  Stephen  with  transfigured 
face,  looking  into  the  heavenly  glory,  was  the 


FOR   A   WITNESS  307 

church's  first  martyr ;  that  is  to  say,  its  embodied 
witness,  whose  silent  raptured  testimony  brought 
Saul  of  Tarsus  to  conviction.  St  Paul,  in  his 
address  to  the  elders  at  Miletus,  declares  that  the 
equivalent  of  his  entire  ministry,  the  fulfilment 
of  his  life-course,  as  an  apostle,  amounted  to  this : 
"  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."  There 
was  nothing  superficial  in  such  an  apostleship. 
And  John,  the  eagle-eyed,  who  rose  to  the  highest 
insight  into  the  philosophy  of  Jesus,  sums  up  his 
transcendent  Gospel  in  the  words :  ''  This  is  the 
disciple  which  testifieth  of  these  things,  and  wrote 
these  things,  and  we  know  that  his  testimony  is 
true." 

But  in  order  to  grasp  the  full  import  of  this 
word  "  witness,"  in  its  New  Testament  sense, 
we  need  to  apprehend  the  personal  subject  on 
whom  the  testimony  turns.  This  testimony  con- 
cerns Jesus  Christ,  as  risen  and  exalted,  not  the 
historic  Jesus  of  Galilee,  but  the  glorified  Christ, 
the  second  Adam  perfected,  who  is  now  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father.  At  his  ascension  Jesus 
bestowed  a  peculiar  ascension  gift — the  Holy 
Ghost — to  bear  his  living  witness  to  the  fact  that 
he  is  risen,  and  had  been  accepted  by  the  Father 
on  high.    This  evidence  Jesus  communicated  first 


308  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

hand  to  his  immediate  disciples,  and  communi- 
cates still.  The  testimony  to  this,  consciously  or 
unconsciously  imparted,  is  the  essence  of  all  gos- 
pel influence  that  ever  had  divine  power  in  it. 

Without  a  vivid  apprehension  of  Christ  risen 
objectively,  and  also  experienced  subjectively  as 
risen  within  the  soul  through  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  endeavor  of  the  missionary  to  evangelize  the 
heathen  world  is  worse  than  a  fool's  errand.  The 
heathen  will_  never  feel  the  peculiar  power  of  the 
witness  in  the  missionary  until  he  recognizes  that 
the  servant  of  God  who  confronts  him  is  a  man 
who,  in  an  important  sense,  has  been  dead  and  is 
alive  again. 

Now  for  the  class  of  forces  which  we  have  been 
considering  as  peculiarly  spiritual  forces,  what 
shall  be  the  form  of  outcome  that  we  may  expect  ? 
We  may  depend  it  will  not  be  an  outcome  accord- 
ing to  natural  causation — not  a  naturalistic  evolu- 
tion, least  of  all  such  an  outcome  as  one  fancies 
to  himself  who  is  in  the  habit  of  walking  by  sight. 
And  yet  it  must  be  a  triumph.  For  the  form  of 
this  triumph,  as  for  the  nature  of  the  forces  them- 
selves, we  are  shut  up  to  the  New  Testament; 
therein  we  find  what  sort  of  results  a  true  mission- 
ary policy  may  expect  to  reach. 


FOR   A   WITNESS  309 

The  peculiar  term  which  the  New  Testament 
employs  is  the  word  '*  end."  In  the  twenty-fourth 
chapter  of  Matthew  this  expression  occurs  several 
times,  namely,  ''  What  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy 
coming  and  of  the  end  of  the  age?  "  "  The  end 
is  not  yet."  *' Then  cometh  the  end.''  The 
thought  in  this  word  is  beneath  the  surface — it 
is  that  of  a  crisis  and  a  consummation — such  a 
conclusion  as  results  in  a  new  and  higher  begin- 
ning, a  conclusion  according  to  grace. 

The  prevailing  error  in  respect  to  this  word 
"  end  "  is  that  men  think  of  it  as  expressing  mere 
termination — a  full  stop — the  end  of  the  world  as 
a  cosmos.  The  dark  forms  of  pessimism  are  as- 
sociated with  it.  With  some  people  the  eschato- 
logical  discourses  of  Christ  have  been  practically 
expunged  from  their  Bibles,  because  they  knew 
not  what  to  do  with  them  and  still  preserve  their 
optimism.  Hence  many  will  have  none  of  them. 
A  deeper  study  would  have  shown  that  these 
discourses  are  not  merely  attempts  to  afford  an 
exact  program  of  last  things,  but  they  are  rather 
discussions  on  the  way  the  kingdom  works.  The 
realm  of  grace  and  gospel  has  its  peculiarities. 
Within  that  realm  things  do  not  work  as  they  do 
elsewhere.     The  gospel  to  be  preached  *'  for  a 


310  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

witness  " — literally  "  unto  a  martyrdom  " — does 
not  expire  with  that  mere  witness,  because  the 
God  of  grace  keeps  watch  over  it,  so  that  in  the 
end  it  proves  to  be  a  gospel  for  a  witness  and  a 
consummation;  a  witness  plus — ^plus  all  that  the 
divine  purpose  in  grace  may  be  pleased  to  do  with 
it,  and  to  add  to  it. 

The  Greek  word  zeXetoo),  from  which  our  word 
translated  "  end  "  comes,  and  all  its  derivatives 
abounding  in  the  New  Testament,  have  a  unique 
meaning.  Conybeare  and  Howson  say  of  the 
word,  ^'  It  means  to  bring  a  thing  to  the  fulness 
of  its  designed  development,  to  bring  to  the  ap- 
pointed accomplishment,  .  .  to  consummate." 

These  ends  or  consummations  have  in  them  ele- 
ments of  surprise,  as  a  process  of  grace  invariably 
has.  In  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  Matthew 
Jesus  takes  pains  to  afford  the  most  comforting 
assurance  of  these  surprises.  Throughout  the 
chapter,  a  chapter  abounding  in  accounts  of  the 
darkest  woes  impending  on  a  sinful  world,  there 
run  promises  in  various  forms  that  God's  care  of 
his  people  will  be  such  that  all  these  things  shall 
turn  out  for  their  advantage.  Every  apparent 
disaster  will  be  but  a  harbinger  of  some  new  and 
surprising  blessing.     Wars,  famines,  pestilences. 


FOR   A    WITNESS  3II 

earthquakes,  are  "  a  beginning  of  sorrows." 
Yes,  but  the  sorrows  of  travail,  as  of  a  woman  in 
childbirth,  promises  of  deHverance;  there  is  new 
Hfe  ahead!  They  will  often  come  suddenly,  as  a 
snare  or  trap  is  sprung,  as  lightning  breaks  forth 
upon  the  world  with  startling  unexpectedness. 
"  When  ye  shall  see  all  these  signs  of  woe  and 
distress  lift  up  your  heads,  for  your  redemption 
draweth  nigh."  The  parable  of  the  fig  tree  is  in- 
troduced and  teaches  that  great  tribulations,  ac- 
companied by  darkening  sun  and  falling  stars,  by 
a  strange  paradox  are  only  presages,  as  the  bud- 
ding fig  tree  is,  promising  glorious  summer — a 
summer  full  of  harvest.  There  is  then  no  pes- 
simism in  the  genius  of  the  kingdom.  That  which 
at  first  blush  looks  like  it  is  only  the  promise  of 
the  higher  optimism,  the  optimism  of  grace,  the 
optimism  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  only  op- 
timism possible  to  this  world  as  the  subject  of 
redemption — that  of  gain  out  of  loss,  that  of  life 
out  of  death.  From  this  point  of  view  many  of 
our  undertakings,  which  humanly  regarded  ap- 
pear failures,  are  really  supreme  successes. 

Far  out  on  a  cliff  of  the  mountain  you  find  an 
eagle  brooding  her  nest.  Observing  the  process, 
after  a  series  of  weeks  you  will  find  a  cracking 


312  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

of  eggshells.  One  who  had  never  seen  the  proc- 
ess before  would  naturally  say,  "  Here  is  a  dismal 
disaster,  a  pessimistic  outcome."  A  wiser  ob- 
server would  say,  "  Wait !  wait  until  these  ap- 
pearing eaglets  are  fledged,  have  grown  their 
wings,  and  begin  to  measure  their  powers  of  flight 
with  the  storms  of  heaven."  You  would  never 
say  there  is  anything  pessimistic  in  such  a  prod- 
uct. The  end  of  the  shell  is  the  birth  of  the 
eagle;  and  apparent  failure  at  the  end  of  one 
series  is  the  institution  of  a  real  triumph  for  the 
beginning  of  another  series.  "  Then  cometh  the 
end."    A  new  consummation  is  on. 

In  our  earth-born  phrase  we  talk  much  of 
"  success  " ;  we  want  to  succeed.  But  surely  many 
of  us  in  Christ's  school  ought  to  be  far  enough  ad- 
vanced to  know  that  this  word  does  not  represent 
a  Bible  concept  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God, 
nor  is  it  true  to  real  spiritual  life. 

What  we  may  look  for  is  not  the  success  of  our 
schemes,  as  we  conceive  them,  and  in  forms  which 
we  fancy  to  ourselves,  but  we  may  look  for  crises 
and  consummations,  crises  and  consummations, 
just  as  they  have  come  hitherto  through  all  hu- 
man and  divine  history.  All  real  success  is  a  di- 
vine product  in  grace, 


FOR   A   WITNESS  3 13 

The  rescue  of  Isaac  from  the  altar  where  Abra  • 
ham  had  bound  him,  symbolic  of  the  resurrection, 
was  such  a  consummation  as  we  have  been  speak- 
ing of.  Jacob's  experience  at  the  Jabbok  when, 
with  disjointed  thigh,  he  passed  over  to  the  con- 
quest of  his  brother  Esau,  was  such.  Israel's  exo- 
dus from  Egypt  was  such,  resulting  in  salvation  to 
the  chosen  of  God  and  in  perdition  to  Pharaoh. 
The  day  of  Pentecost  was  a  consummation.  The 
Lutheran  Reformation  was  such,  coming  out  as 
no  one  foresaw  it  would.  The  discovery  of 
America  was  one  of  these  "  ends,"  incidentally 
found  in  the  search  of  Columbus  for  India.  The 
rise  of  modern  missions  has  abounded  in  these 
unexpected  turns  of  triumph.  Carey  was 
prompted,  as  the  result  of  his  study  of  Cook's 
voyages,  to  go  to  Tahiti.  But  the  Lord  led  him 
by  a  way  that  he  knew  not,  to  India.  Judson  went 
to  Burma  to  labor  for  Burmans,  but  God  gave 
him  and  his  successors,  the  Karens  chiefly,  for 
their  hire.  Livingstone  was  bent  on  a  mission  to 
China,  but  the  divine  Providence  threw  him  into 
Africa,  where  his  distinguished  career  led  on  to 
the  achievements  which  were  brought  to  a  cli- 
max in  Stanley's  day.  And  Stanley  himself  went 
to  Africa  as  a  mere  adventurer,  searching  for 


314  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

Livingstone,  in  the  intention  of  his  patron,  chiefly 
to  advertise  a  secular  newspaper.  There  Stanley 
met  Livingstone,  Stanley  was  himself  trans- 
formed, was  strongly  moved  to  translate  one  of 
the  Gospels  for  the  Waganda  people;  and  out  of 
it  all  the  God  of  providence  organized  a  mission- 
ary movement  which  fills  the  whole  Congo  valley 
and  the  East  African  lake  district  with  gospel  il- 
lumination. Talk  about  "  success  " !  The  mere 
adaptation  of  means  to  an  end,  the  gradual  evolu- 
tion out  of  mere  resident  forces  of  all  things  good, 
apart  from  the  overruling  agencies  of  the  tran- 
scendent God!  None  of  these  great  things  just 
referred  to  were  ever  thus  evolved.  God  will 
bring  in  his  glorified  kingdom  by  ways  and  means 
yet  largely  hidden  from  the  wisest  of  us.  Some 
of  these  consummations  have  very  lately  been 
wrought  out  before  our  eyes. 

The  able  Washington  correspondent  of  the 
"  Boston  Journal,"  after  the  victory  at  Manila, 
gave  expression  to  his  views  in  thoughts  like 
these :  *'  Great  as  the  victory  is  from  a  naval  point 
of  view,  and  striking  as  it  appears  to  be  in  its 
influence  on  the  course  of  the  war  with  Spain, 
yet  there  are  other  considerations  looming  up  to 
such  importance  as  that  far-seeing  men  in  Wash- 


FOR   A   WITNESS  315 

ington  see  in  them  the  possible  beginnings  of  a 
new  era  in  the  relation  of  the  United  States  to  the 
far  East."  Said  this  writer:  ''The  seizure  of 
Manila  is  a  military  accident;  that  is  to  say,  it 
was  a  necessity  arising  from  conditions  imme- 
diately involved  in  the  strategy  of  war  which, 
while  Commodore  Dewey's  fleet  was  in  Asiatic 
waters,  was  precipitated  upon  him  and  upon  the 
nation/'  Even  shrewd  men  of  the  world  are 
compelled  to  recognize  this  principle.  Why  should 
men  of  faith  be  so  slow  to  entertain  it  ?  They  are 
^'  ends,"  consummations,  new  beginnings  in  the 
unfoldings  of  the  supreme  plan  which  includes  all 
things. 

"  This  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached 
in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations,  and 
then  shall  the  end  come."  There  may  be  ends 
and  ends;  the  final  one  of  the  series  will  be  that 
described  in  the  word  as  "  the  day  of  the  Lord, 
when  he  shall  come  with  ten  thousand  of  his 
saints." 

Could  faith  ask  for  a  grander  program  than 
this?  Could  she  content  herself  with  a  Master, 
the  scope  of  whose  enterprises,  the  elements  of 
whose  policy,  and  the  form  of  whose  triumphs, 
were  less  transcendent,   uncommon,   and  super- 


3l6  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

natural  ?  It  is  the  kingdom  for  all  mankind  which 
he  is  to  bring  in.  I  close  with  an  incident,  in  the 
words  mainly  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  Henry  Barrows, 
late  president  of  Oberlin,  who  was  present  at  the 
trial  referred  to : 

In  1873,  three  years  after  the  close  of  the 
Franco-Prussian  War,  a  military  tribunal  was 
sitting  in  Versailles,  France,  for  the  trial  of  Mar- 
shal Bazaine,  who  at  Metz  had  surrendered  to 
Prince  Frederick  an  army  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  men  and  eighteen  hundred  pieces 
of  artillery.  It  was  charged  that  Bazaine  had 
shown  irresolution  and  cowardice  when  he  should 
have  been  strong  and  unflinching. 

Bazaine  thought  to  shield  himself  on  the  ground 
that  in  that  crisis  the  emperor  had  abdicated  and 
was  a  fugitive,  and  it  was  not  quite  certain  what 
the  government  of  France  was,  whether  an  em- 
pire or  a  republic,  or  whether  indeed  it  had  any 
government. 

At  this  juncture,  the  president  of  the  tribunal, 
Due  d'Aumale,  whose  patriotic  blood  was  at 
fever  heat,  broke  forth  upon  the  marshal  with  the 
pathetic  and  passionate  cry,  ''  But  France !  but 
France!"  The  instincts  of  a  nation's  indestruc- 
tible life  found  utterance  in  that  thrilling  cry. 


FOR   A   WITNESS  317 

France,  the  nation,  still  lived,  she  improvised  her 
government,  and  to  her  every  soldier  and  citizen 
owed  supreme  and  instant  allegiance,  whether  re- 
public or  empire.  Bazaine  should  have  re- 
membered that. 

To-day  the  church  of  God  is  on  trial  respecting 
her  world-\\dde,  age-long  missionary  vitalities. 
She  may  be  divided  into  many  camps;  she  may 
have  varied  subordinate  interests.  Some  would 
prefer  to  express  their  devotion  in  one  field,  and 
some  in  another;  some  chiefly  at  home,  others 
chiefly  abroad.  Many  would  repudiate  obligation 
altogether.  Be  these  things  as  they  may,  we  who 
are  engaged  in  this  war  are  primarily  Christians. 
Our  highest  fealty  is  to  the  kingdom  of  God — the 
kingdom  in  all  lands,  among  all  races — the  king- 
dom in  its  entirety. 

From  the  lips  of  our  ascended  Lord,  who  will 
convene  the  last  great  tribunal,  let  us  anticipate 
the  exclamation  under  which  all  our  work  will  at 
last  be  tested  and  judged.  ''But  the  kingdom! 
but  the  kingdom!  Have  you  been  faithful  to 
that?" 

The  end  is  not  the  perfection  of  any  one  nation 
as  such,  nor  the  mere  outworking  of  the  weal  of 
all  nations  through  the  one ;  but  the  simultaneous 


3l8  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

witnessing  of  the  gospel  unto  all  peoples;  and 
then  a  supernatural  consummation  on  a  universal 
scale  among  all  peoples,  worthy  of  the  glorified, 
enthroned,  returning  Christ. 


LECTURE  XIV 

THE  ETERNAL  "  NOW  "  OF  MISSION- 
ARY OBLIGATION 


LECTURE  XIV 

WHEN  Augustine,  after  his  long  career  of 
carnality  and  worldliness,  found  himself 
at  Milan  one  day  ''  sick  at  heart,  tormented,  turn- 
ing in  his  chain,"  he  threw  himself  upon  the 
ground  beneath  a  tree  in  the  garden  and  cried 
out,  "  How  long,  how  long  ?  To-morrow  and  to- 
morrow ?  Why  not  now  ?  Why  is  there  not  this 
hour  an  end  to  my  uncleanliness?  "  Returning 
to  the  bench  in  the  garden  where  he  had  left  the 
writings  of  the  Apostle  Paul  he  had  been  reading, 
he  caught  them  up  and  read  the  paragraph  on 
which  his  eyes  first  fell — "  Not  in  rioting  and 
drunkenness,  not  in  chambering  and  wantonness, 
not  in  strife  and  envying,  but  put  ye  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  make  not  provision  for  the  flesh 
to  fulfil  the  lust  thereof." 

The  reading  of  this  text  settled  for  him  the  date 
of  his  repentance  concerning  which  he  had  been 
so  agitated,  and  he  says,  "  No  farther  would  I 
read,  nor  did  I  need,  for  instantly  as  the  sen- 
tence ended — by  a  light  infused  into  my  heart — 
V  321 


^22  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

all  the  gloom  of  doubt  A^anished  away.  How 
sweet  did  it  suddenly  become  to  me  to  be  with- 
out the  delight  of  trifles !  And  what  at  one  time 
I  feared  to  lose  it  was  now  a  joy  to  me  to  put 
away,  sweeter  than  all  pleasure,  brighter  than  all 
light."  Observe,  the  change  came  to  Augustine 
the  moment  he  said  "  Now !  "  and  refusing  to  wait 
till  "  to-morrow,"  he  put  away  his  uncleanness. 
Thus  has  it  ever  been  when  respecting  any  form 
of  moral  obligation  in  the  kind  of  a  world  in 
which  we  live. 

The  chief  foe  to  the  realization  of  evangelical 
blessing  is  procrastination.  God's  date  for  moral 
action  is  the  immediate  present  moment.  ''Now 
is  the  accepted  time;  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 
That  which  makes  it  so  is  the  fact  that  God  has 
laid  the  eternal  and,  of  course,  immediate  basis 
for  fellowship  or  co-operation  with  himself  in 
his  objective  cosmic  atonement.  The  moment 
this  is  known,  the  deep  appeal  of  our  own  moral 
natures,  as  well  as  God,  seems  to  say,  "  Respond 
to  that,  allowing  not  one  moment  to  the  sin  of 
procrastination  to  jeopardize  all."  In  line  with 
this  demand  of  the  soul,  Paul  in  2  Cor.  6  appeals : 
"  We  then,  as  workers  together  with  him,  beseech 
you  also  that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in 


THE    ETERNAL        NOW  323 

vain."  In  vain  it  will  be  if  compliance  with  its 
terms  be  indefinitely  postponed. 

But  how  strange  it  seems  that  with  reference 
Bibles  in  our  hands,  the  thought  of  the  church 
in  the  long  past  has  narrowed  this  Bible  teaching 
respecting  procrastination  to  man's  personal  re- 
pentance unto  salvation.  The  passage  in  Isa. 
49  :  8,  on  which  Paul  bases  his  deductions  in 
Corinthians,  undoubtedly  had  primary  reference 
to  the  whole  evangelical  or  missionary  epoch 
which  we  call  the  gospel  age.  At  the  beginning 
of  this  age  Christianity  was  catholicized.  With 
the  completed  atonement,  the  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  Christ,  and  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  at 
Pentecost,  the  old  Israelitish  economy  burst  its 
bonds  and  the  new  age,  the  strictly  evangelical 
and  missionary  age,  began.  From  that  moment 
to  this,  God's  date  for  all  mankind,  who  either 
preach  or  hear  the  gospel,  is  nozv.  To  alter  its 
terms  in  respect  of  time  is  altogether  to  repudiate 
God's  authority — is  to  do  despite  to  his  Spirit  of 
grace  and  imperil  destiny.  The  difficulty  in  get- 
ting gospel  agency  at  work,  far  and  near,  is  pre- 
cisely here. 

It  is  not  that  men  do  not  acknowledge  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  gospel,  the  worthiness  of  the  claims 


324  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

of  Christ;  it  is  not  that  they  do  not  wish  and 
expect  some  time  to  yield  to  those  claims ;  but  the 
difficulty  is  ever  and  everywhere  this — to  get 
them  to  name  the  date,  to  name  God's  only  date, 
when  they  will  do  so,  viz.,  nozu,  finally  and  for- 
ever, and  so  begin  to  live  their  eternal  life. 

And  what  is  the  pretext  for  this  delay  ?  Simply 
this — that  man  as  a  sinner,  having  set  up  his  own 
self-government  in  contravention  of  God's  gov- 
ernment for  him,  wishes  to  have  more  time  in 
which  to  please  himself,  to  gratify  his  own  lusts, 
to  carry  out  his  self-chosen  plans  of  life,  of  busi- 
ness, of  pleasure,  or  ambitious  enterprise  on  which 
he  sets  so  false  a  value. 

Repentance  involves  the  instant  subordination 
of  all  self-interests  to  God's  interests,  to  the  wel- 
fare, also,  of  one's  brother  man.  And  God  as- 
sures us  that  having  once  done  this,  we  shall  find 
our  way  into  the  only  self-realization  worth  hav- 
ing. By  losing  the  self-life  we  shall  gain  the 
other  and  the  divine  and  eternal  life,  possible  to 
all  men  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  master  temptation  of  the  devil  is  this : 
to  make  sure  of  a  man  in  the  matter  of  time 
— the  present,  and  all  the  present,  for  his  uses. 
Once  sure  of  this  he  cares  little  for  the  good 


THE    ETERNAL     '  NOW  325 

intentions  his  victim  may  cherish  for  the  indefinite 
future. 

A  man's  repentance  is  worthless  if  it  rests  only 
in  an  intention.  Not  till  he  says,  '*  I  accept  God's 
moment  for  it,  and  now,  instantly,  I  commit 
my  present  to  him,"  is  it  a  true  repentance.  De- 
cision to  give  time  to  God — all  the  time  there 
is — not  another  pulse-beat  for  Satan  and  sin ;  this 
is  the  only  practical  hope  there  is  that  God  will 
ever  rule  any  heart  or  life. 

The  bearing  of  this  principle  on  universal 
evangelization  is,  however,  the  matter  of  special 
consideration  in  this  lecture. 

The  end  for  which  I  now  plead  within  the 
church  is  the  immediateness  of  the  devotement  of 
ourselves  to  the  task  of  executing  the  Great 
Commission  of  Him  whom  we  call  "Lord." 
Ranking  Christ  as  Lord,  let  us  remember  that 
we  are  committed  as  absolutely  as  he  is  to  im- 
mediate, whole-hearted,  and  perpetual  efforts  to 
evangelize  the  whole  earth.  It  is  not  optional 
with  us  whether  we  engage  in  this  work  or  not. 
We  are  committed  to  it  organically,  because  we 
are  spiritually  risen  beings. 

Our  very  consecration  to  Christ  in  baptism 
meant  that,  once  for  all,  in  principle.    As  the  habit 


326  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

of  our  new  being,  we  then  died  to  our  self-life 
and  ceremonially  lived  again  in  newness  of  life 
in  him ;  and  the  pledge  of  Christ's  perpetual  pres- 
ence with  us  by  the  Spirit  is  assured  upon  the 
presupposition  that  we  would  perpetually  and 
fearlessly  prosecute  this  task,  in  the  face  of  any 
and  every  peril,  trusting  to  Him  that  is  risen 
from  the  dead,  and  so  has  authority  over  both 
worlds,  to  sustain  us  in  it. 

Hear  the  Prophet  ^  Isaiah  from  whose  words 
the  apostle  presses  home  the  divine  data  for  uni- 
versal evangelization,  in  a  few  characteristic  pas- 
sages :  '*  Listen,  O  isles,  unto  me ;  and  hearken,  ye 
people,  from  far."  The  Lord  hath  "  said  unto  me, 
thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be 
glorified." 

But  the  prophet,  remembering  how  arrogant 
and  rebellious  the  chosen  people  had  become, 
cries  out,  ''  Then  I  said,  I  have  labored  in  vain,  I 
have  spent  my  strength  for  naught;  yet  surely 
my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord  and  my  reward 
with  my  God." 

Then  the  Spirit  of  God  answers  for  him,  ''  And 
now  saith  the  Lord  that  formed  me  .  .  .  though 
Israel  be  not  gathered,  yet  shall  I  be  glorious  in 

1  Isaiah,  49th  chapter. 


THE   ETERNAL        NOW  327 

the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  my  God  shall  be  my 
strength.  And  he  said,  It  is  too  Hght  a  thing  that 
thou  shouldest  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the 
tribes  of  Jacob  and  to  restore  the  preserved  of 
Israel;  /  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the 
Gentiles,  titat  thou  may  est  be  my  salvation  unto 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  .  .  Kings  shall  see  and  arise, 
princes  also  shall  worship  because  of  the  Lord 
that  is  faithful.  .  .  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  In  an 
acceptable  time  have  I  heard  thee,  and  in  a  day 
of  salvation  have  I  helped  thee ;  and  I  will  preserve 
thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people 
to  establish  (raise  up)  the  earth,  to  cause  to  in- 
herit the  desolate  heritages.  Behold,  these  shall 
come  from  far;  and,  lo,  these  from  the  north  and 
from  the  west;  and  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim  " 
(China). 

Thus  we  see  the  setting  of  this  basal  teaching 
concerning  "  the  acceptable  time."  The  lan- 
guage is  used  to  accentuate  the  fact  that  when 
the  time  should  come  for  heathen  evangelization 
it  would  be  a  time  called  ''  acceptable,"  "  favor- 
able," a  time  of  God's  peculiar  mercy,  "  a  day  of 
salvation  " — what  the  year  of  jubilee  was  in  the 
Jewish  calendar,  the  redemption  year.  Hence, 
when   Jesus   arose   in   the   synagogue  at   Naza- 


^28  THE   TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

reth,  and  turning  to  the  sixty-first  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  read :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 
because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and 
recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty 
them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord,"  and  declared,  ''  This  day  is  this 
scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears,"  he  had  in  mind 
also  this  forty-ninth  chapter  of  Isaiah  and  its  cen- 
tral assurance  to  mankind,  that  the  epoch  of  grace 
for  all  the  world,  and  not  for  Israel  merely,  had 
dawned. 

Now,  so  far  as  the  apostolic  church  was  con- 
cerned, the  immediacy  of  the  undertaking  to  evan- 
gelize the  then  known  world,  was  v/ell  performed. 
Certain  it  is  that  within  the  lifetime  of  the  last  of 
the  apostles,  the  gospel  was  representatively  pro- 
claimed on  universal  lines,  and  potentially  to  all 
peoples.  Would  God  it  had  continued  to  be  pro- 
mulgated in  the  same  spirit  till  now.  Alas!  the 
departures  of  the  early  Fathers,  the  fatal  coalition 
made  by  Constantine  between  the  Church  and  the 
State,  and  the  heresies  of  the  dark  ages  swept  the 
church  from  its  primitive  program,  and  the  ma- 
terialism of  modern  times  has  accentuated  a  per- 


THE    ETERNAL        NOW  329 

sistent  paganism  which  still  prevails  over  vast 
areas  of  the  globe. 

Since  the  Reformation,  however,  and  especially 
within  the  past  century,  the  church  has  made 
many  noble  efforts  to  quicken  its  pace  in  the 
divine  enterprise  of  evangelizing  the  world.  Yet, 
for  the  most  part,  even  these  movements  have 
dwelt  chiefly  upon  the  biblical  justification  of  the 
enterprise,  and  its  obligation  upon  Christendom 
on  its  principles.  It  has  made  less  of  the  need  of 
alertness  in  the  undertaking. 

A  few  trumpet  blasts  blown  by  men  like  the 
Sandwich  Islands  missionaries,  by  Alexander 
Duff,  by  Joseph  Angus,  and  by  the  leaders  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement,  have  from  time  to 
time  startled  the  church,  and  in  part  aroused  it 
to  the  practicalities  of  speedily,  at  least,  making 
Christ  known  in  the  whole  world.  But  the  record 
of  what  as  yet  has  actually  been  accomplished  in 
missions  is  as  nothing  compared  with  what  God 
would  achieve  through  his  church  even  in  one 
generation,  if  it  were  to  cease  playing  at  the  task, 
even  trifling  with  it,  and  would  get  at  it  with  truly 
apostolic  zeal. 

It  is  the  immediateness  of  the  obligation  on  the 
part  of  all  to  attempt  the  task  proposed,  that  the 


330  THE   TASK   WORTH    WHILE 

Scriptures  urge.  ''  Now  is  the  accepted  time  for 
me  to  work  and  for  others  to  hear.  No  delay 
whatever  in  relating  myself  heartily  and  vitally 
to  the  enterprise  by  any  and  every  present  means 
within  reach.  I  refuse  to  defer,  to  relegate  to 
those  who  may  follow  me  what  I  myself  ought 
now  to  do." 

The  cardinal  evil  with  which  we  all  have  to 
contend  is  the  devil's  delusion  that  we  shall  gain 
by  procrastination.  Satan  would  drive  a  bargain 
with  us.  He  first  gives  us  an  exaggerated  vision 
of  the  worth  of  a  thousand  temporal  and  near-by 
benefits  already  present  to  us  or  just  within  reach. 
Then  he  says,  "  All  these  now  will  I  give  thee  if 
thou  wilt  postpone  Christ's  present  claims."  As 
if  to  say,  "  For  to-day  you  seize  and  make  sure 
of  these  present  benefits."  **  A  bird  in  the  hand 
is  worth  two  in  the  bush."  '^  Christ  can  have  to- 
morrow; later  the  higher  benefits,  now  deferred, 
will  be  yours."  And  we  foolishly  think  that  to- 
morrow the  inducements  of  the  flesh,  now  press- 
ing upon  us,  will  be  less  urgent,  while  farther  on 
Christ's  mind  for  us  will  appear  more  attractive. 

In  cunning  this  is  Satan's  masterpiece;  it  will 
not  exist  in  the  future  life ;  but  here  it  does  exist, 
and  there  is  the  trouble  about  getting  the  church 


THE   ETERNAL        NOW  33I 

to  give  itself  up  to  the  claims  of  Christ  with  refer- 
ence to  any  duty,  and  especially  to  the  duty  of 
saving  the  heathen.  We  become  stricken  with 
near-sightedness  as  between  inclination  and  duty. 
If  this  state  of  things  were  reversed,  as  it  is  the 
aim  of  the  gospel  to  accomplish,  we  should  ever 
see  the  present  will  of  Christ  to  be  the  most  de- 
sirable and  attractive  thing  to  be  chosen  and  done. 
If  this  could  be  brought  about  in  the  church  to- 
day the  millennium  would  be  already  here,  Christ 
would  have  fully  come. 

The  principle  in  Christianity  which  underlies 
all  our  Lord's  references  to  his  comings  again, 
and  these  comings  are — as  we  have  maintained 
throughout  in  these  lectures — many  and  in  varied 
forms,  is  this — that  his  appearance  on  the  scene  is 
logically  in  terms  of  grace,  the  next  thing.  There 
is  to  be  absolutely  no  provision  made  in  our  mind 
for  anything  less  than  the  glory  of  Christ  to  crown 
the  next  stage  in  our  faith  and  service.  This  is 
the  habit  of  faith ;  it  denies  time  to  the  adversary 
at  every  point  and  on  every  conscious  issue.  We 
"  make  no  provision  for  the  flesh  "  or  for  the 
fleshly  outcome  of  anything.  As  one  has  said, 
"  Straight  out  of  to-day  we  are  to  look  across 
the  unknown  gulfs  of  time  into  the  glory  and 


^^2  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

the  terror  of  that  day.  That  is  the  temper  by 
which  all  that  is  serious,  strenuous,  and  arduous 
in  real  Christian  life  is  regulated  and  sustained. 
For  the  true  servant  of  Christ  there  is  no  earthly 
to-inorroii'/' 

The  practical  thing  important  alike  to  all  on 
the  subject  is  this,  the  imminency  of  our  own  at- 
titude, our  will,  our  life  to  the  work  which  condi- 
tions Christ's  coming.  Are  we  in  the  habit  of 
immediate  and  resolute  compliance  with  the  mind 
of  Christ  respecting  the  work  under  considera- 
tion ?  Now  is  the  accepted  time  for  us.  Foreign 
missions  and  home  missions  will  have  real  and 
widespread  power  in  the  church  when  this  spirit 
and  habit  respecting  the  mind  of  Christ  shall 
prevail.  The  principle  of  immediateness  is  at  the 
root  of  all. 

There  is  something  entirely  fictitious  in  any 
proposition  which  the  church  may  make  to  herself 
to  accomplish  any  Christian  task  in  a  prolonged 
period  of  any  sort,  simply  for  the  reason  that 
God  gives  to  no  man  or  body  of  men  any  assur- 
ance of  the  continuance  of  their  probation  beyond 
the  present  moment.  If  we  propose  to  ourselves 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  a  century  or  a 
millennium,  or  an  aeon  or  a  generation — a  period 


THE    ETERNAL        NOW  333 

of  thirty-three  years;  in  any  and  all  these  con- 
ceptions we  make  provision  for  a  time  and  serv- 
ice that  may  never  be  ours ;  we  put  ourselves  out- 
side God's  conception  for  us.  We  provide  for 
delays  and  postponements,  the  very  principle  of 
which  is  not  of  faith.  If  I  could  know  that  within 
the  space  of  the  next  thirty-three  years,  God  has 
decreed  that  his  church  actually  should  work  out 
the  Christianization  of  mankind,  the  devil's  first 
move  and  my  first  temptation  would  be  to  cal- 
culate what  portion  of  that  time  I  could  afford 
to  devote  to  something  else,  more  selfish,  nearer 
to  hand,  less  self-sacrificing.  The  only  remedy 
for  this  evil,  the  only  safeguard  against  that  wile 
of  the  adversary,  is  to  cut  the  ground  from  under 
him  and  my  own  selfishness  by  proposing  what 
alone  is  the  thought  of  God  for  me,  the  immediate 
devotement  of  myself  to  the  world-triumph  of 
Christ  by  every  means  in  my  power. 

\Yt  must  of  course  distinguish  between  two 
things- that  widely  differ,  viz.,  the  objective  plan 
of  history  absolute  to  God,  with  a  beginning,  mid- 
dle, and  end,  and  the  subjective  attitude  which  is 
to  characterize  our  relations  to  that  plan  partially 
known  only  by  us.  God  undoubtedly  has  his  plan ; 
has  an  order  of  procedure,  a  purpose  of  the  ages. 


334  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

And  he  has  foreseen  that  taking  man  as  a  fallen 
being,  and  his  church  as  a  body  of  imperfect,  halt- 
ing people,  a  great  period  of  time  might  elapse  be- 
fore the  end  would  come. 

But  while  this  is  true  on  God's  part,  it  is  also 
true  that  the  exact  form  in  which  God  shall  bring 
on  the  successive  stages  in  the  divine  progress  is 
a  matter  of  sovereign  determination,  and  it  is  also 
contingent  on  the  co-operation  of  his  people.  Our 
Lord  distinctly  said,  "  It  is  not  for  you  to  know 
the  times  and  seasons  which  the  Father  has  set  in 
his  own  authority  ";  and,  therefore,  it  is  no  more 
ours  to  presume  on  them,  artificially,  extending 
them  in  our  imagination  on  the  one  hand,  or  un- 
duly shortening  them  on  the  other. 

Much  criticism  has  fallen  upon  those  who  take 
views  implying  the  shortness  of  time  before 
Christ  comes  again,  even  the  imminency  of  that 
divine  appearing.  When,  indeed,  those  holding 
such  views  fall  to  making  detailed  programs  of 
the  coming,  which  afford  more  play  for  specula- 
tion than  for  a  true  attitude  to  the  practical  duties 
of  the  hour,  the  criticism  is  just.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  those  who  hold  that  the  divine  plan 
requires  absolutely  vast  seons  of  time  in  which 
the  world  may  be  expected  to  drag  on  its  weary, 


335 

wilful  way,  while  the  church  is  more  or  less  slug- 
gish in  preparing  to  achieve  ideal  things  in  the 
far-away  future,  are  just  as  really  in  practical 
error,  because  whatever  the  facts  may  prove  to  be 
in  the  matter  of  time  in  the  actual  outworking  of 
the  divine  order,  the  speculations  on  man's  side 
are  vain.  Besides,  such  speculations  are  adapted 
to  tempt  those  who  indulge  them  presumptuously 
to  neglect  present  duty.  By  a  most  subtle  in- 
fluence the  moral  attitude  becomes  false,  and  the 
tempter  again  has  his  way.  It  is  as  mischievous 
to  put  off  the  divine  "  parousia  "  too  far  as  it  Is 
to  bring  it  too  near.  In  either  case  one  sets 
actual  bounds,  estimates,  "  times  and  seasons," 
and  so  violates  the  divine  order. 

True,  dispensationally,  the  apostolic  church 
needed  to  wait  in  Jerusalem  until  Pentecost  was 
fully  come  for  the  divine  enduement;  but  even 
that  waiting  was  not  presumptuous  dallying  and 
disregard  of  immediate  right  attitude  before  God. 
It  was  a  reverent,  watchful  attitude,  a  filial  abi- 
ding around  the  promise  of  the  Father  in  mo- 
mentary expectation  of  some  surprise  of  grace. 
And  we  are  told  that  when  the  Spirit  came  it  was 
"  suddenly."  The  manifestations  of  grace  are 
always  sudden;  they  always  have  the  element  of 


336  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

surprise,  astonishment  in  them.  In  apphcation 
of  the  parable  of  the  Unjust  Judge,  we  are  told 
that  when  God  redresses  the  wrongs  of  his  peo- 
ple, though  their  trials  extend  through  long, 
dreary  ages,  "  He  will  avenge  them  speedily 
though  he  bear  long  with  them."  This  is  the  an- 
nouncement of  a  principle  which  extends  through 
the  whole  praying  life  of  the  church. 

The  principle  which  I  am  striving  to  make 
clear  is  this,  that  whatever  may  be  the  sovereign 
plans  of  God  in  the  order  and  succession  of  events 
in  his  absolute  program,  yet,  relatively  to  that 
program  which  exists  in  his  mind,  we,  his  disci- 
ples, are  to  be  in  the  attitude  and  spirit  of  immi- 
nent, immediate  compliance  zmth  his  present  ivill 
for  us,  having  only  moment  by  moment  in  which 
to  act.  It  is  only  as  we  do  thus  live  and  act  that 
God  will  lead  us  into  the  best  course  for  us ;  thus 
only  can  he  work  out  the  quickest  realization  of 
the  ends  of  his  kingdom. 

Nor  is  this  saying  that  we  are  to  live  a  plan- 
less life — a  sort  of  "  from  hand-to-mouth  "  ex- 
istence, having  no  regard  to  futurity.  We  are  to 
have  plans  both  wise  and  broad,  but  they  are  to 
be  tentative  plans,  Christian  plans,  plans  always 
likely  in  part  to  be  mistaken,  plans  subject,  there- 


THE    ETERNAL        NOW  337 

fore,  to  revision,  as  enlightenment  from  the  ever- 
opening  word  and  providence  of  God  falls  upon 
their  secrets.  We  are,  therefore,  ever  to  say,  ''  If 
the  Lord  will,  we  will  do  this  or  that."  The 
future  in  its  possibilities  tremendous  for  good 
or  evil  is,  of  course,  to  be  contemplated.  A  Chris- 
tian, living  as  he  ought  in  the  present  moment, 
is  sure  to  have  insights,  illuminations  casting 
their  rays  away  ahead;  he  will  often  become 
prophetic,  even  in  some  sense  predictive — in  the 
divine  sense  highly  optimistic.  When,  in  the 
frame  of  mind  for  which  I  am  now  pleading,  one 
of  his  days  will  often  become  "  as  a  thousand 
years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day,"  he  will 
measure  things  as  God  does,  by  celestial  esti- 
mates, and  not  by  the  mere  running  sands  of  an 
hourglass. 

That  state  of  mind,  that  habit  of  soul  which  is 
concerned  to  do  instant  duty,  as  Christ  was,  when 
he  said,  ''  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God  " — 
more  concerned  to  take  each  step  in  the  light  of 
faith  in  its  hour  than  to  build  any  possible  air 
castles  of  imaginary  achievement,  represents  the 
only  man  whose  conceptions  of  the  future,  or 
plans  for  it,  will  materialize  in  the  gold,  silver, 
and  precious  stones  of  God's  temple, 
w 


2^8  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

The  disciples  were  indeed  dispensationally  to 
tarry  long  enough  to  receive  the  power  necessary, 
but  not  a  moment  longer.  Because  later  they  be- 
came predisposed  to  tarry  too  long,  God  allowed 
a  storm  of  persecution  to  break  upon  them  in 
order  to  scatter  them  against  all  mere  natural  in- 
clination or  favoritism  for  nationality  over  the 
known  earth.  The  true  church  ever  since  has  been 
the  church  of  the  "  diaspora  " — the  church  of  the 
dispersion.  When  crowned  in  power  with  the 
Spirit  the  church  might  commence  its  invincible 
witness  and  limit  itself  nowhere.  Where  else, 
then,  could  they  begin  but  where  they  received  the 
coronation.  Since  then,  now  that  the  Jewish  dis- 
pensation has  given  place  to  the  Christian,  now 
that  the  enduement  of  power,  always  potentially 
existing,  may  be  claimed  anywhere  where  the 
Christian  will  open  his  heart  to  welcome  it,  on 
any  spot  of  earth  where  stands  a  disciple,  there 
the  divine  witnessing  may  begin  afresh.  The 
place  zvhere  that  empowerment  for  witnessing  be- 
gins, there  is  the  modern  analogue  to  the  Jerusa- 
lem of  the  Acts ;  there  is  the  commencement  day 
of  Christian  propagandism.  No  man  need 
''  wait "  for  it  an  instant.  The  word  "  tarry," 
which   Christ   employed   with   reference   to   the 


THE   ETERNAL        NOW  339 

waiting  of  the  disciples  for  the  event  of  Pentecost, 
is,  we  repeat,  a  dispefisational  word.  Its  appHca- 
tion  is  confined  to  that  event — to  the  birthday  of 
the  church.  The  baptism  of  fire  and  of  power 
came  then  once  for  all.  Pentecost  is  never  to  be 
repeated.  According  to  the  import  of  that  bap- 
tism, however,  the  church,  even  every  individual, 
is  expected  to  live  his  life  and  manifest  its  energy. 
Since  Pentecost  the  word  for  us  is  trust,  instant 
trust.  For  the  exercise  of  trust  and  the  avail- 
ability of  the  power,  no  man  need  wait  another 
pulse-beat.  It  is  within  the  individual  area  and 
instant  touch  of  all;  and  the  obligation  to  reach 
out  for  all  is  correspondingly  immediate,  urgent, 
and  commanding. 

Thus,  on  the  divine  side,  every  provision  has 
been  made  complete  for  the  laggard  church  im- 
mediately to  engage  in  the  work  of  universal 
human  evangelization.  One  thing  and  one  only 
is  now  supremely  needed,  namely,  that  the  po- 
tentiality of  the  provision  shall  become  actualized 
by  having  done  forever  with  procrastination  of 
every  sort.  Then  let  the  young  not  say  we  will 
wait  till  we  become  old,  but  everywhere,  in  the 
family,  at  the  mother's  knee,  under  the  father's 
roof-tree,  in  the  Sunday-school,  in  the  young  peo- 


340  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

pie's  society,  and  in  the  church  we  will  do  now 
what  we  can  to  pity,  love,  and  save  all  other  chil- 
dren and  youth  of  this  and  every  land. 

Let  the  poor  not  say,  we  will  wait  till  we  be- 
come rich,  but  now,  with  the  measure  of  blessing 
and  prosperity  already  in  hand,  we  will  divide  and 
share  with  others  poorer  than  ourselves. 

Let  the  rich  not  say,  we  will  wait  till  we  become 
richer,  much  less  will  we  wait  till  death  and  our 
worm-eaten  hands  can  no  longer  grasp  our  gold, 
but  now  in  the  full  measure  of  what  our  estate 
makes  possible  we  will  obey  the  command  to 
disciple  all. 

Let  the  patriot  say,  not  after  our  own  country 
has  been  surfeited  and  made  fat  with  bounty  and 
blessing,  then  will  we  do  for  the  heathen ;  but  nozv, 
filled  with  gratitude  for  our  birth  in  a  Christian 
land,  and  seeing  gospel  grace  trampled  like  pearls 
beneath  swine's  feet  on  every  hand,  will  we  send 
by  every  ship  and  every  post,  and  by  wire  under 
all  the  seas,  or  without  wires  through  the  ether, 
tokens  of  our  love  and  grace  for  the  instant  relief 
and  redemption  of  our  brothers  in  pagan  realms. 
^'  Now/'  not  then,  "  is  the  accepted  time." 

The  prophets  of  the  new  century  have  been 
diligently  seeking  a  fitting  motto  or  cry  for  the 


THE    ETERNAL        NOW  34 1 

period  which  the  world  has  now  reached.  There 
are  many  runners  in  the  valley  of  vision.  It  is 
not  certain  that  all  their  voices  are  divine.  Among 
recent  messages  especially  to  be  commended  is  a 
cartoon  by  Sir  John  Tenniel,  first  published  in 
"  Punch."  The  cartoon  is  announced  as  Sir 
John's  valedictory  message  upon  his  retirement 
from  the  public  use  of  the  crayon. 

The  cartoon  represents  Father  Time  standing 
at  rest  holding  the  infant  Redeemer  on  his  left 
arm,  his  scythe  meanwhile  fallen  disuse'd  at  his 
side.  Beside  him  stands  an  appealing  maiden 
wreathed  with  a  chaplet,  on  which  is  written 
'*  Peace."  Before  the  two  figures,  and  at  the 
left,  is  a  war  chariot  drawn  by  two  fateful  im- 
passive steeds,  with  an  aspect  of  destructive  power 
depicted  in  every  line.  Within  the  chariot  there 
rides  an  erect  war  lord,  with  fire  in  his  eye  and 
terror  in  his  mien.  For  a  moment  only  he  seems 
compelled  to  curb  his  steeds  to  observe  the  appeal- 
ing figures  before  him.  The  cartoon  is  entitled 
''  The  Appeal  of  Time."  It  seems  to  say,  "  Have 
not  nineteen  centuries  since  the  Christ-Child,  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  was  born  into  the  world  sufficed 
to  have  wrought  the  will  of  Mars  in  slaughtering 
the  millions  of  mankind?    Will  not  the  war  lord 


342  THE    TASK    WORTH    WHILE 

yield?  When  will  the  spears  be  wrought  into 
priming-hooks,  and  those  steeds  be  set  to  their 
proper  task  of  plowing  the  soil?'' 

Surely  it  is  a  timely  voice  which  Sir  John  has 
lifted  up  in  Britain  and  sent  out  over  the  world. 
But  fitting  and  stirring  as  Sir  John's  message  to 
his  generation  is,  it  is  not  adequate;  it  only  pre- 
sents the  negative,  human  appeal  that  wars 
should  cease.  The  gospel  calls  for  far  more  than 
this.  Mankind  must  be  renewed  by  the  divine 
Spirit,  and  the  elements  of  a  deep  divine  peace  be 
implanted  in  the  place  of  unholy  antagonisms  to 
both  God  and  man. 

Some  gifted  successor  of  Sir  John  might  well 
take  up  his  disused  crayon  and  send  forth  a  more 
positive  and  far-reaching  message.  This  should 
represent  the  appeal,  not  of  "  Father  Time,"  but 
of  the  divine  Son  of  man,  risen  from  the  dead. 
Lord  of  eternity  as  well  as  time.  He  would  be 
rousing  his  slumbering  church  to  instant  and  uni- 
versal effort,  such  as  the  world  has  never  yet 
seen,  to  disciple  the  nations.  He  would  be  call- 
ing, "  Now,  NOW,  is  the  accepted  time !  "  Such 
a  presentation  would  voice  the  church's  task,  com- 
pass the  world's  real  need,  and  hold  within  it  the 
largest  promise  for  the  future,  the  promise  dearest 


THE    ETERNAL    ''  NOW  ''  343 

to  the  heart  of  our  ascended,  reigning,  coming 
Lord.  Such  a  cry  would  most  fitly  be,  for  each 
and  every  generation,  a  truly  scriptural  mission- 
ary zvatchword. 


THE  END 


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